When Things Go Wrong
by Santiva Potter
Summary: Follow Dom and the team as they try to hold on to the life they once knew and loved. Set after tFatF. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise

**When Things Go Wrong**

**By: Santiva Potter**

**Summary: **Follow Dom and the team as they try to reconstruct their family and all that they knew and loved.

* * *

Chapter 1

_Letty laughed as she thumbed through her newly earned cashed again, as she weaved through the people at Race Wars. She was quite please with herself, that asshole had deserved it too. She opened the door to the team's trailer and found Mia behind the miniature sink. _

"_When did your pockets get so thick, Let?" Mia asked eyeing the money._

"_My pockets have always been thick, Mi. They're just getting __**thicker**__!" _

_Both girls laughed. _

"_No but seriously, I won it off of some idiot who was looking for ass, but instead got his ass handed to him," Letty laughed. _

"_Awh, I almost feel bad for the poor guy," Mia teased. _

"_What guy?" Dom asked coming into the trailer. _

"_Letty was mistaken for a show girl of some sort by another racer, and now Let is 2 grand richer." _

_Dom laughed wrapping his arms around Letty's waist. "That's my girl." He put the money in Letty's back pocket and kissed her full on the lips, forgetting the presence of his younger sister. _

"_Oh you know Dom, Letty was doing great in communicating until you waltzed in here," Mia snapped. Neither Letty nor Dom moved. "Ugh, I'm out of here," Mia continued. "You two are disgustingly in love with each other. Too much for one sane person to handle." _

_Dom laughed and picked Letty up and placed her on the kitchen counter. "Now that I've got you alone…"_

"_On the kitchen counter?" Letty asked laughing. "I'm not sure Mia or the boys would appreciate that." _

"_Well there's isn't enough room in the bedroom. I need room to maneuver; you are a __**wild **__little thing." _

_Letty broke the kiss and smiled. She gazed at Dom for awhile before she groaned. _

"_What?" he asked. _

"_We have a heist tonight," she reminded him. _

"_It's the last one," Dom said. She grabbed his face between her hands and forced him to look her dead in the eyes. _

"_The last one?" she clarified. _

"_This is the last one Letty. I promise." _

Letty gasped for breath, desperately trying to hang on to that promise. Of course it didn't matter much now. Last heist or not, she was still sitting in the back of the Honda bleeding and gasping for breath.

"Leon do you think you can step on it?" Mia growled from the back, hovering over Letty. "She's **dying **back here."

"Mia, I'm going as fast as I can without attracting attention," Leon responded. "If we keep speeding through here, with cops potentially on our asses Dom will get arrested for sure."

"I don't care if Dom goes back to Lompoc for eight years!" Mia yelled. "Letty is bleeding to death back here! I need you to put your damn foot on the gas Leon!"

Dom turned around from the passenger's seat to reply back, but Letty's gruff voice cut over them.

"I'm not bleeding to death back here Mia, I'm just bleeding," Letty snapped. "Both of you need to chill out. Just keep driving Leon."

Dom turned back around and didn't say anything. Nothing could be heard in the car expect for the angry roar of the engine.

"Dom?" Letty asked.

"What is it, mami?"

"Look at me," Letty ordered. Dom turned around to the back seat. In his eyes, Letty could see the pain, the guilt and misery that masked him. She just wanted to make it better for him. She didn't want him to worry.

"I'm going to be fine, Dom. I promise."

Dom leaned over the seats and kissed Letty softly, speaking so softly that Mia could barely hear him. "Don't leave me, Letty."

"Never."

"Hospital!" Mia all but shrieked as the car jerked to the right, sending Dom back into his seat. They arrived at the hospital only a few minutes later.

"C'mon Letty let's get you out of here," Mia said helping her friend get out of the car. Dom made a move to leave the vehicle as well but Leon held him back.

"I think you should let me stay with Letty," Leon suggested.

"What?" Dom asked.

"Listen Dom, Cop O'Connor probably has the whole force looking for you. You need to get Mia home, get all of our stuff and run south to Mexico. I'll stay with Letty until the doctor release and we'll meet you there."

"What about Vince? Or Jesse?"

"Mia will still be in L.A. so she can give us updates on Vince, and when he's good to go, we'll send for him."

"And Jesse?"

Leon sighed. "We don't even know where he is right?"

"No," Dom stated grimly. "He could be anywhere. We're the only family he has."

Leon swore.

"I'll take Mia home and leave her there. I'll get the car and go hunting for Jesse, and when I've got him, we'll run south and meet you and Letty. Mia will call when Vince gets out of the hospital and I'll come up to get him. We good?"

"Good. I'll go get Mia."

Leon ran into the hospital and saw Mia waiting in the hallway.

"Did you get Letty to a doctor?" Leon asked.

"Yes, she's in the emergency room," Mia responded. "Now, all we have to do is wait."

"Listen, Mi I need you to go back to the car with Dom. I'll look over Letty," Leon said.

"What? Why? What's happened now?"

"Dom will explain once you're in the car, okay Mia? Just get in, and I'll see you, when I see."

Mia stared long at Leon, who she considered a brother, teary-eyed. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly on the cheek before leaving the hospital for the car.

* * *

Thanks always for reading, and please don't forget to review.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise

* * *

Chapter 2

Leon wasn't sure how much time had passed between Dom and Mia leaving and the doctor's results. Thankfully, Letty would be just fine. She had a few bruises here and there, and needed stitches for her stomach, with a pair of bruised ribs, but other than that, there was nothing major. Some bed rest would do her good, the doctor told him.

Almost immediately after Leon spoke to the doctor about Letty his cell phone vibrated wildly in his pocket.

"Hello?" Leon answered.

"Leon it's Mia, I need you to come and get me," she begged.

"Mia? Where are you? Where's Dom?"

"Leon, I'm at the police station."

About a half hour later, Leon arrived at the police station.

"Can I help you sir?" an officer asked from the main desk.

"Yes, I'm looking for Mia Toretto—"

"Mia Toretto?" another officer and his partner came from behind Leon to the front desk. "Why would you be interested in her?"

"She's a friend," Leon responded. He knew they would begin fishing and he'd have to watch his words carefully. "She asked me to pick her up."

"So then you know Dominic Toretto," the other officer said.

"Who doesn't know who Dominic Toretto is? King of the streets, last time I heard," Leon replied.

"But you're friends with his sister," the first officer began, "so you must know Toretto well."

"I said never Mia and I were _that _good of friends."

"But you have to be pretty good of friends for her to call you. That's who she called just a half hour ago."

"When a friend is in need, I come to the rescue. Look do you know where she is, because I'm getting sick of these 21 questions," Leon snapped.

"You won't be seeing Mia, until you answer some questions about Toretto."

"What do you think I've been doing here genius?" Leon snapped.

"Watch it kid, you don't know who you're talking to," the officer warned. "Now, do you know Dominic Toretto? Do you run with his "crew"?"

"His team?" Leon corrected. "Are you asking me if I am apart of Dominic's team?"

The officers nodded and Leon sighed.

"Even if I was," Leon answered, "why would I tell you the truth?"

"You just can't answer the question directly," one of the officers growled.

"I happen to know the value of information," Leon replied.

"I hope you know the value of this," the officer's partner interjected, "Dominic Toretto will be arrested and so will anyone who is associated with him. Now you can avoid jail time if you tell us where Toretto is."

"Like I know," Leon answered. "The man is pretty good with hiding, or else you all would have caught him a long time ago."

The two officers shared a look.

"Tell us your name again, son," one officer demanded. Leon kept his lips tight. He knew that if Brian had told the officers about the team, that he was screwed.

"Why don't you ask Officer O'Connor?" Leon spat.

"Well at least you admit to knowing Toretto," the first officer said. "Next question, where is our friend O'Connor?"

Leon laughed bitterly before responding. "If I knew where Brian O'Connor was," he replied, "you would know where he is, because he'd be in a body bag."

"Well that's the truth," a female officer from behind them said. She turned to the two officers and ordered, "Put him into the line up and see how he does."

Leon soon found himself in a line up with about ten other men facing bright lights and a dark window. But Leon relaxed slightly with the knowledge of who was behind that window: the truck driver: the truck driver, who had never seen him.

"Numbers 232, 235, 239 and 240 can leave," a voice called over the intercom.

Leon stood there impatiently, wondering if his confidence would be short lived.

"Number 237," the voice over the intercom called frustrated, "you are also free to leave."

Leon grinned in satisfaction as he left the room and another officer led him to where Mia was waiting.

"Oh Leon!"

She rushed to him and threw her arms around him.

"Not a word," Leon told her, "until we get out of here, okay?"

Leon led Mia out of the police station and to the car she had taken here.

"What happened Mi?" Leon asked, once safely in the car.

"Brian followed us to the house," Mia choked, "and Dom was getting ready to find Jesse and they were arguing for a bit, but then Jesse just appeared out of nowhere and-and one minutes he's there and t-the next, the next he's…"

Mia began to shake with uncontrollable sobs.

"He's gone!" Mia cried. "Tran came and-and they…Jesse's gone."

Leon closed his eyes in pure fury and anguish, gripping the steering wheel.

"Where is Dom?" Leon asked through clenched teeth.

"He and Brian went after Tran," Mia explained. "And when I got to the police station, I overheard them saying something about Brian giving Dom the keys. Something about owing Dom a ten second car."

Leon swore. "So Dom is on the run?"

Mia nodded.

"That means they're coming on down on us hard. We've got to get Letty out of that hospital," Leon said.

"What? Why?" Mia asked.

"Because, the truck driver saw four people today: Vince, Letty, Brian, and Dom. Vince is in the ICU, Letty is recovering in the hospital, and Brian and Dom are both on the run. The easiest and quickest person they are going to be able to grab and book is Let. We have to get her out of there."

Mia took a deep breath, tears still streaming down her face. "We can call Letty's uncle. He's a doctor, I think. He-he does a lot work between San Diego and San Francisco. M-maybe he's in the area and can get a transfer or something."

"A transfer! That's good. Do you have the number, Mi?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, I picked it up when I was packing some stuff," Mia answered digging through her bag for the number. She pulled it out and dialed it on her cell before handing the phone to Leon.

"Hola, este es José Ortiz," Letty's uncle greeted.

"Si, Mr. Ortiz, this is Leon, I'm a friend of Letty's."

It took a moment before Letty's uncle responded grimly, "This cannot be good."

"No, it isn't actually," Leon confirmed. "Letty is in the hospital."

"Is she alright?" Jose asked. "How badly is she injured?"

"Not too badly actually," Leon explained. "She's got a few bruised ribs and needed stitches but other than that, Letty is just fine. The doctors just want to keep her over night is all."

"¡Oh, gracias a Dios!" Jose replied. "But if Letty is going to recover, then what is the real issue?"

"Well, um, Letty staying the hospital is the issue."

"Why is that? She will need bed rest."

"Well, uh, I don't think you want Letty getting bed rest in a jail cell," Leon responded.

"¿Qué?¡Oh, dulce madre de María!" Jose exclaimed. "This has something to do with illegal cars, doesn't it?"

"Trucks, actually," Leon explained. "Letty participated in the hi-jacking of some trucks earlier this morning that went really bad."

"Oh, por el amor de misericordia! In daylight?" Jose complained. "What was my niece thinking?"

"Mexico, if I overheard Dom correctly," Leon mumbled begrudgingly.

"Méjico?" Jose asked. "She can go to Méjico whenever she wants to! Jail is a different situation!"

"Look Mr. Ortiz, I know you're upset with Letty right now," Leon urged, "but if we don't get her out of that hospital in the next hour, the police are going to find her and she'll be pinned for stealing nearly 6 million in merchandise."

"What do you want me to do?" Jose sounded defeated.

"Can you get a transfer for Letty? Ask if she can be put in a different hospital?" Leon asked.

"You're in luck," Jose answered. "I was just leaving the L.A. area on my way down to Tijuana , I'll write in a transfer for her and met you two on the border."

"Actually, we probably need to met before you hit the border," Leon suggested. "There's an alleyway about three blocks from the hospital—Letty will know which one I'm talking about. If you can get her out met us there at dusk. There are some last minute things that Letty, Mia and I need to discuss."

"Fine," Jose agreed, "but you will also have to answer to **me.**"

* * *

Thank you for reading and all of your reviews! I hope you enjoyed and please do not forget to review again! Translations Below.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter

Translations:

_Hola, este es Jose Ortiz= _Hello, this is Jose Ortiz

_¡Oh, gracias a Dios!_= Oh, thank God!

_"¿Qué?¡Oh, dulce madre de María= _What? Oh, sweet Mother of Mary!

_Oh, por el amor de misericordia_= Oh, for the love of mercy


	3. Chapter 3

Discailmer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 3

It was nearing seven in the evening when Letty and her uncle met Mia and Leon. Letty physically looked fine. She was wearing no cast, and most of her injuries were covered by her baggy clothing. But the agony and pain that masked all of their faces spoke words beyond any injury. She knew that they were in trouble, deep trouble.

"Where's Dom?" Letty asked hoarse.

"Yes, where is _Dominic?" _her uncle demanded.

"He's probably well in to Mexico by now," Mia answered.

Jose threw his hands up in frustration. Letty avoided eye contact and continued to ask, "Where's Jesse?"

Mia looked down slightly before responding, "He's dead. Tran came by the house, and he-he shot him."

"And Vince?"

"He's still in the ICU," Leon answered. "Apparently, big V lapsed into a coma."

Letty ran her hands through her hair, "So what can we do? How bad is the heat?"

"We need to separate," Leon explained. "I don't think the driver ever saw me, but I'm positive he saw you, Dom and Vince. We gotta spilt up if we're going to avoid getting caught. Things like this don't just go away on their own Let."

"And what about Vince? He's still in the ICU. We can't just abandon him," Letty argued.

"What _can _we do Letty?" Leon defended. "I want to stay and help Vince too, but with Jesse and Tran dead, we already got enough people ready to come after us, and then put the police on top of that! Let, we can't stay in L.A. anymore, it's too dangerous."

Letty shook her head in disagreement. "I'm not leaving Vince."

"Dom would **kill **me if I let you stay here, Letty," Leon argued.

"Well that's too bad," Letty snapped, "because I don't see dear old Dom right now. Oh that's right; he's too busy running off in Mexico!"

"It's not like he wanted to," Leon snapped. "The police were coming for him. If he had stayed, he would have been sent back to Lompoc. Letty we're all pissed with him, but are you that mad, that you would want Dom to go back?"

"And you that _scared _that you would want V to go?" Letty countered. "Vince isn't Dom. He's not going to come back the same, heck even **Dominic **didn't come out the same!"

"Jesus Letty you know I want to!" Leon yelled. "But tell me what are we going to do? Bust him out? He's sick! He needs a doctor!"

"I've heard enough," Jose interjected. "The boy is right, Leticia. We need to get you out of Los Angeles. I suggest you come with me to San Francisco."

"And then what?" Letty snapped. "Huberto is a cop, Jose! He'll find out that you're hiding me…me..."

"Do not get any ideas," Leon growled.

"What are we going to do Leon? We can't just leave Vince here as food for the dogs!"

"Break him out," Mia suggested softly.

"Mia that takes man power, man power we don't have," Leon told her.

"Do it before he goes in," Mia continued.

"What?"

"What's your profession?" Mia asked.

"Mechanics, street racing," Leon responded.

"Hi-jacking trucks," Letty answered following Mia's train of thought.

"Well isn't the transfer bus from L.A. County to Lompoc, simply one big _**truck?**_"

"The last job. I see where this is going," Leon grinned. "We'll need Dom."

"He'd come back for this," Letty answered. "He wouldn't dare stay in Mexico. Not with me and Vince after him."

"You don't know if Vince is after him," Leon said. Letty raised an eyebrow that quickly advised Leon to shut it quick.

"I'm coming with you this time," Mia added.

"No!" Letty and Leon chorused.

"Actually, I'm thinking a yes," Mia snapped. "Someone on this job needs to have a decent set of head of their shoulders."

"So you're going to hi-jack another truck," Jose growled frustrated. "Por el amor de Dios, qué es lo que hacen valer por sí mismas en?"

"We don't have another option," Letty explained. "Jose and I will run south to the border. You and Mia go home and wait for Dom to call. When he does, give him Jose's cell and tell him to call us. We'll meet him in Mexico. When Vince is being transferred, I'll come up with Dom the night before and we'll get him and run him south."

"Sounds good to me," Leon said. "We're going to need at least two more cars. You'll need to find a car in Mexico, Letty. But I'm sure the cops will be looking for our regulars."

"So we have to get rid of the old cars, and replace them with new ones?" Mia clarified.

Although Letty frowned at the idea of someone throwing out _her _car, she nodded, understanding why it needed to be done.

"Go to Hector. I'm sure he can hook you up with two more cars," Letty suggested. "He owes us anyway."

"I'll do that," Leon said. "We should get going."

"Wait, we have one more issue," Letty said.

"What?"

"Jesse."

At the sound of his name the three friends went quiet. Jesse was everyone's little brother. They all loved him to death and the idea that he was gone…

"He deserves a funeral," Mia said.

"We don't have time," Leon argued softly, although the words tasted sour in his mouth.

"Just something simple then," Letty suggested.

"We'll have to do it quick," Leon said. "We'll need to disappear soon, and we're running on tight schedule. We don't know when Vince is going to wake up."

"The courts won't try Vince instantly, so we have time to bury Jesse right," Mia added. "And if we do it right then maybe you and Dom—"

"No," Letty interjected. "I want to Mia, I do, but…the minute I hit Mexico, I'm can only coming back for Vince. If we were to come back twice, we'd increase the chances of getting caught."

"We'll do it right," Leon promised.

"We should leave Letty," Jose said from behind the trio. "We have to get you out of here."

Letty nodded in agreement and Mia threw her arms over and Letty. There was always a silent agreement between the two that they were each other's best friends, even though Letty's badass reputation would never allow the words to be spoken. But in all truth, Mia was the closest thing she had to a sister. She had been with Letty through all of the pains she had growing up as a child and for the two of them to be separated felt alien and just plain wrong. Letty, along with Dominic, had been the rock in Mia's life since her father died, and to watch them both leave her, killed apart of Mia's heart.

"Be safe," Mia pleaded softly. "And tell Dom that I love him."

Letty nodded and hugged Leon next.

"Take care. I'll call you when it's time," he promised.

As she headed back with her uncle to his car, Leon called her name one more time.

"And Letty? Make sure you give Dom a good punch in the gut for me, alright?"

Letty smiled and the family departed.

* * *

Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review! Translations Below.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter

Translations: _Por el amor de Dios, qué es lo que hacen valer por sí mismas en?= _For the love of God, what are they getting themselves into?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 4

Leon had long ago accepted that his things would never be easy. He had planned on making sure that his drive in life would be action packed, without a second to spare. But sometimes, he wished he didn't have to eat his own words.

After Letty and Jose left for the border, he and Mia had instantly went to go pay Hector a visit.

"Two visits in one day?" Hector asked as Leon and Mia approached. "Damn, this must be my _un_lucky day."

"How did you know today was so unlucky?" Leon asked.

"Tran's little sister works in the hospital, so she heard about Vince and the trucks," Hector explained, letting the pair into his garage. "Now it's wildfire all over the streets. I heard Dom went AWOL."

Leon frowned.

"He didn't go AWOL," Mia snapped. "I doubt you'd want to go to Lompoc, either."

"True," Hector agreed. "Besides, Letty came around with some dude before I heard any of Tran's mouth. Speaking of Tran, you've got another issue to worry about."

"Yeah like what?" Leon asked.

"Like Johnny Tran's body in the morgue!" Hector replied offering Leon a corona.

"What?" Leon snapped turning to Mia. She groaned and sat down in the closest chair.

"I completely forgot about that," Mia answered. "It's been such—"

"You _knew?_" Leon asked. "You knew Dom killed Johnny Tran and _forgot _to tell me? Damn Mia, damn!"

"Dom didn't kill him," Hector cut in. "Your friend Spilner—"

"O'Connor," Mia corrected venom leaking into her voice.

"Yeah, I heard about him too. A cop? Damn, that's some bad karma rolling around. Anyway, the point is now you gotta deal with the Tran family."

"As if we didn't have enough shit on our hands," Leon snapped. "Shit. He must have been pissed."

"They killed Jesse," Mia reminded softly. There was a quiet moment amongst the three, where they all understood the thoughts that must ran through Brian and Dom's heads. They all knew the pain of losing a loved one, and they all knew the inconsolable anger…

"Listen, we need your help," Leon said after a moment. "We gotta get rid of these cars."

"Everything must go?" Hector asked.

"Everything must go."

The cars were waiting for them off of the highway exit by the old rundown building where they were parked only hours ago. It seemed so surreal to Leon that he had literally just been here, trying to let go of that bad feeling shaking his spine. He knew they shouldn't have done this without Jesse, he knew something had been off.

With Hector's right hand man Senon, they were able to get all of the cars and drop them off at random empty abandoned warehouses outside of L.A. It was well past midnight when Mia and Leon retired back to the Toretto's home, but the minute they spotted the massive gathering of motorcycles, Leon knew the night was about to get a hell of a lot longer.

"Leon?" Mia asked nervously.

He revved the engine, eyeing the motorcyclist closets to him, who was undoubtedly Lance Tran.

"Leon?" Mia asked again, pressing for a response.

The engine growled ferociously and Lance Tran raised his gun higher.

"LEON!"

The car made a wild U-turn right there on the block and Leon sped back down the street. The minute the move was made, Mia ducked her head trying to avoid the sharp bullets that were exploding around her.

Their luck was running seriously thin, as Leon would find. He approached the bottom of the hill in record time, only to find about three or four cars waiting for him. Suddenly the bullets were coming from both ends. This was an all out massacre.

"Shit!" Leon swore making another wild U-turn.

"Leon, are you serious?" Mia asked Leon drove viciously back up the hill. "Why are going in the _wrong _direction? We want to get out of the neighborhood not further in!"

"Damnit Leon!" Mia yelled when he didn't respond. He wasn't working on logic at the moment. It was all adrenaline, all snap decisions. To Leon, this was the biggest and best challenge he was ever going to get. He had always tried to view life as a game, one challenge after the next, and if he could make it through this particular night, he would find himself _quite _a happy man.

Leon ran right through the militia of motorcycles and literally _ran over _a few of them. The shot fires never ceased, but Mia could now hear the angry roars of motors behind her.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? LEON, WHAT HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Mia shirked as Leon plowed right through slightly opened, wooden gate between Letty's house and her old neighbor, Mrs. Peterson. They ended up in the backyard of the Marshall's, who were known to be loud-mouth, trigger happy lunatics. Leon drove through the Marshall's back yard, hoping that the parade of cyclist to follow would have some trouble with their old _friends. _

By the time they were out of the neighborhood, only one car was still trailing them. The others were either stuck at the Marshall's or currently upside from ramming to innocent cars that had become part of Leon's maze.

"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" Mia whined as the car only seemed to get closer.

"Mia, give me your phone," Leon commanded, "and take hold of the wheel."

Having no time for her own personal worries, Mia did as asked, and handed her phone over and took over the steering wheel. Keeping his foot on the gas, Leon quickly dialed the numbers to the only extended family that team had in L.A.

"Hello, Kendall?" Leon asked.

Mia's head snapped in his direction, her mouth dropped.

"Are you crazy?!?" Mia yelled.

"No, but _she _sure as hell is!" Leon snapped back. "Kendall listen to me, it's Leon—Where are you?—Good. Listen, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I need you to meet me down by the tracks—y'know the railroad tracks where Dom, Cam, Vince and Letty used to screw around all the time—Yeah, and I need you get old Susanna. Meet me there. We're not too far from it now."

When Leon snapped the phone shut Mia demanded, "What are thinking? You want to get Krystal involved in this? She'll _kill _us!"

"I didn't call Krystal, I called Kendall," Leon snapped taking control of the wheel again. "We've just got to keep this little goose chase going a little while—"

The force of the impact was nearly enough to send Mia and Leon both through the window. Mia found herself quite glad that they had put on seatbelts, when getting into the car. She turned around to see that the survivors from Tran's hunting party were directly behind them. As another round of shots were fired, Mia ducked, but she could hear the rear view mirrors shatter.

Leon made a wild, illegal left turn onto 5th street, and Mia could see the train tracks blinking in the distance.

"Leon? Do you see—?"

"We're gonna make it Mia, I just need you to shut up for one quick—"

"Leon we are NOT going to make it!" Mia screamed as they quickly advanced towards the train tracks.

"Mia, just a little—"

But Mia Toretto was sick of people telling her that things were going to be alright. She just had to swallow the truth, things were **not **alright. Not since the failed heist, not since Brian screwed with their lives, not since Dom went away to jail, hell not since her father died.

Mia slamming her foot on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt right before the tracks as the train passed by them.

And although it saved them from an accident and certain death by train, there's was still the little matter of their pursuer who wanted them dead.

The car behind them should have killed them, once they had stopped. They should have had their guns out and ready to blow their small Nisan into bits. Both Mia and Leon shouldn't even be alive, but as grace would have it, they were both saved—again.

Although Mia hadn't seen it as they sped down 5th street, she did remember the small alleyway right before the train tracks, where her brother and his friends would hide when the police interrupted their "street races". It was the same small alleyway that a large black SUV exploded from, ramming right into the pursuer's vehicle, sending it tumbling over.

Mia watched from the car as Kendall Cadmen emerged from the SUV with old Susanna in hand.

One man crawled from out of the car and Kendall pointed the gun directly at the man's head and disarming him of his own.

"Why don't you tell your _master_, Kendall says: no more games tonight?" Kendall snapped.

The man nodded before running for the African-American woman with the large semiautomatic shotgun.

"Leon? Are you alright?" Kendall called as she approached them.

"Yeah," Leon answered as he began to exit the car.

"You didn't mention that you had Mia with you," Kendall snapped helping Mia out.

"Didn't have the time," Leon replied. "I see old Susanna still works."

Kendall rolled her eyes and tossed the large gun to Leon. He lifted it up to aim and saw that there were no shells.

"Everyone can use a little fear in their lives," Kendall responded to Leon's grin. "So what happened _this_ time?"

"Long story," Leon said.

"Oh I got time," Kendall answered. "Especially if you don't want Krystal to know. My mother can still kick your ass, y'know."

"Yeah, I know," Leon answered. "We just…fucked up."

"When things go wrong…" Kendall sighed. "C'mon, you two, I'll take you back to my place and we'll talk."

* * *

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 5

Mia took the sight of the Cadmen home with a great sense of appreciation.

"What's the smile for?" Kendall asked when everyone was in the house.

"It's been so long since I've been in a clean house," Mia smiled. "I forgot what one looks like."

Kendall snorted and Leon rolled his eyes.

"Bathroom still on the second floor?" Mia asked heading for the steeps.

"First one to the right," Kendall answered.

With Mia upstairs, Leon found himself in a bit of an awkward position. He personally had never been too close with the Cadmen clan. But they stood a strong stance in Dom's life because they knew a Dom, that hadn't existed for nearly six years.

Trying to maneuver from Kendall's suspicious glare, Leon moved into the family room where picture decorated the walls of the Cadmen's and the Toretto's with Letty and Vince.

"I don't think I've ever seen this one," Leon commented picking up one of the pictures. He handed it to Kendall as she smiled.

"Yeah, this is the closest we ever came taking a complete family picture," Kendall said. "It was taken about six years after my brother Corel's death, and two months before Letty's dad walked out on his family."

"Must have been rough," Leon said.

"You have no idea," Kendall responded. "I don't think in all my years of knowing Letty, that I had seen her in so much pain. I mean, that was time when Letty loved her dad more than she loved her mom. She idolized him, and in return he broke her heart."

Kendall put the picture back on the wall and narrowed her eyes at Leon. "Speaking of Letty," she began, "where is she?"

Leon shrugged trying to avoid the question, "With Dom."

"Which is?"

Leon frowned at Kendall slightly. "Why do you even give a _shit _Kendall? It's not like you all have been up in our business lately anyway."

"Why do I give a shit?" Kendall laughed bitterly before answering, "Do you know why Letty moved into Dom?"

Leon shrugged. "It's Letty and Dom. Why not?"

"About six months ago, my oldest sister Kimberly was looking over the mortgages that we have here in L.A. My family takes care of mortgage for this house, Dom takes care of his house, and we both split on the store, because it's easy to pay for and Letty's house because most of us have at some point or another lived there. Well when Kimberly was looking over the numbers she noticed that Dominic was paying his mortgages at higher rate than we expected."

"And you're gonna hate a man for doing his job?" Leon asked.

Kendall rolled her eyes. "Here's the facts Leon, you've known Dom since he's been out of jail. But _I've _known Dom since he was five years old running but-naked up and down 7th Ave. Dominic isn't _slick. _It doesn't take a genius to know that he was getting his money illegally."

"We have to be pretty good," Leon snapped. "Krystal doesn't know."

"And why do you think that is?" Kendall countered. "We told her that we were helping Dom with the payments. The woman has been through enough. It's not easy raising about nine kids and watching two of them die. And then when Tony died…"

"The point is," Kendall continued, "that we didn't want Krystal to worry. But we wanted to know the truth. So Kimberly started on Dom, who instantly clammed up about it. When Kadeem found out he decided he was going to pay Dom a visit."

"I remember that," Leon smirked. "Two black eyes over dinner."

"We didn't find it so funny," Kendall snapped. "Dom wasn't answering anybody's questions. It was "his business" as he put it. But that idiot didn't realize how _his _business is just as much **our **business. We're family, and we have to look out for each other."

"But what does this have to do with Letty?"

Kendall sighed. "Letty sided with Dom."

"And you expected any different?" Leon laughed.

"Just because Letty is Dominic's girl, doesn't mean Letty does everything that Dom wants."

"So Letty moved out because you were pissed that she wouldn't tell you what was going on," Leon concluded.

"I told her she could either do the talking, or do some walking. I haven't spoken to them since," Kendall added. "And apparently we were right. It was illegal."

"I never said that," Leon said.

"Leon, do I _look _like a fool?" Kendall snapped.

Leon smiled slightly and shook his head.

"So what happened today?"

"Where's Mia?"

"Probably upstairs asleep," Kendall answered. "Answer the question." Her voice was of steel and Leon knew he wasn't going anywhere until he opened up. There would be no walking out option. So he slowly traced back the last month, explaining about the cop, and the heist, Vince and Jesse and Letty and her uncle.

When he was finished, Kendall was no longer looking at him, but Leon could still see tears racing down her cheeks. She rose slowly and crossed the room, taking another picture off of the wall. She handed it to Leon. It was a picture of Dom and Vince, both who couldn't have been more than eight or nine, and in between them was a dark, big muscular teenage kid with a goofy smile.

"That's Corel," Kendall explained softly, joining Leon on the couch. "Dom and Vince were about nine when he died. Corel had gotten into an argument with my mother about Anthony. He was pissed because he didn't want anyone dating his mom. Not even the man who kept him out of trouble, taught him everything he knew about cars and loved him like his own son. I remembered he yelled, 'I don't want to be fucking Toretto!' and then stormed out of the house. And when he came back, there was so much blood. I remember my mother was so red, from holding him as he died in her arms."

Leon set the picture down and took Kendall's hand. She had tensed up from memories of her older brother. She wiped one of her tears away before facing Leon and continuing.

"I feel like every time I let you, Dom or Letty walk out that door, that one of you will come back to me bleeding, and dying in my arms."

"That's not going to happen," Leon promised.

Kendall smiled slightly. "I'll hold you to that. So you're going to break out Vince?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"You'll need man power," Kendall said.

"You think your siblings would be down? I may have never met Kimberly, but I've heard enough stories. She doesn't sound like the type to bend the law."

Kendall smiled standing up. "Family is family, Leon and when it comes down to it, we all know that she'd rather deal with busting Vince out of jail then attending his funeral. We get into all the time no doubt, but in the end, it's not about the individual, it's about the team. Something I am going to _drill _into Dominic's head until he gets the picture."

"He just wanted to help."

"What?"

"Dom. He knew that he was getting behind in his payments, and he didn't to have to ask for money, so he looked into the trucks deal and he knew that he'd be able to get ahead in the payments. This was supposed to be our last one. The money we were supposed to get from would cover any last payments."

"It's always the last one," Kendall mumbled. "Dominic's intentions are usually in the right place, but let's face it Leon, the boy is addicted to adrenaline."

"Aren't we all?" Leon asked.

"Good point. Adrenaline and family, I think just sums up this crazy lot of knuckleheads."

"There's nothing wrong with a little adrenaline," Leon said.

"There's nothing wrong with a little love, but it's balancing the two—that's when things get complicated. That's when people get hurt."

"Do you think it's possible to rewrite your wrongs?" Leon asked.

"You don't rewrite your wrongs Leon," Kendall said as she made her way to the staircase. "You learn from them."

* * *

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 6

In her twenty-one years of life, Letty could count all of her pleasant memories of Mexico on one hand. By no means was the country the heaven that most American criminals compare it to. Mexico, in every aspect was related to her father, and usually Letty steered far from things that reminded her of Juan Ortiz. And had she been thinking about that fact, she would have known that she would not find herself on a beach in Mexico with Dom. Besides, if she were on a beach in Mexico with Dom, it wouldn't be a very happy beach.

As she drove through the streets of Tijuana, Letty could see the pristine peace of the ocean, and wished her life would just calm down a bit. She wasn't sure how much more wrong things could go, but she wasn't anxious to find out.

According to Mia, Dom was at a bar called _La Taberna Nightshade. _He'd been in Mexico for about three days now and he was supposed to meet her just after dusk. When she arrived there, Letty saw no car that she recognized, but still decided to give it a try.

The bar had the universal griminess to it, with the dark lighting and loud men who just didn't know when to shut up.

_Drunks, _Letty thought as one man, pushed past her after one of the waitresses.

Letty stepped up to the bar and gazed around looking for any sight of her bald haired man.

"¿Esta usted buscando a alguien, señorita?" the bartender asked. "¿O es usted justo en la veclindario?"

"Ambas."

"¿Es americano?"

"Si."

"Y tú eres ..?"

"Thirsty," Letty answered. The bartender chuckled.

"Fair enough," bartender said. "What do you want?"

"Corano," Letty replied.

The bartender nodded and made his way down the bar passing a young waitresses, barking order at her in Spanish. The girl frowned but quickly gave Letty her Corona.

"Gracias," Letty said.

"Turista?" the waitress asked, cleaning a glass.

"Non."

"Criminal?"

Letty smirked slightly.

"Figures," the waitress continued. "You don't exactly look like the good girl."

"I wouldn't exactly call myself the good girl," Letty replied, taking a sip of her drink. "So what do people like to do when the sun goes down around here?"

"Depends," the waitress answered. "What do _you_ like to do when the sun goes down?"

"Correr."

From the waitress, Letty was able to get the directions to the local street racing in the area. It was just outside of the city, just off the high way, where a clearing about six miles long hosted nearly fifty cars every night. She was sure to find Dom here.

When she was about ten miles up, Letty picked up the phone and gave Kendall a call.

"How we doing on the man hunt?" Kendall asked.

"I'm going to these street races to see if I run into our Neanderthal," Letty explained. "If he's not here, I don't know where the hell he is."

"He's there," Kendall agreed. "Just don't kill him. I wanted to get the first punch."

Letty laughed. "Whatever K. I'll call you when I've got him."

As told, the clearing, known to the locals as _El Valle Oscuro, _was filled with more cars than Letty could count, and more women half naked that she could stand.

_And to think, I thought I __**left **__L.A. _Letty mused as one girl walked past her, booty out with plenty of onlookers to appreciate the view. _Can you say: skank? _

Closest to her was a group of men crowed with women as they leaned against their cars

"You don't look like you're from around here," one of them called out to her.

Letty eyed the man for a minute before responding, "I'm not."

"American?"

"You could say that," Letty replied. "Dominican."

"You don't look like the others," the man said coming closer to her.

"Oh you mean Thing One and Thing Two over there?" Letty snapped.

"Defiantly not like the others," the admirer purred.

"Don't get your hopes up," Letty snapped. "I prefer a man who's got what's under the hood and not the decorations."

"Ah, a lady who knows cars," the man smiled. "Such a gem must already be taken."

Letty smiled.

"Well, you might want to keep your American roots to yourself tonight," the man suggested.

"And why is that?"

"There's this American around. He arrived a few days ago, pissing everyone off."

"You mean taking everyone's money?" Letty corrected smirking. _Sounds like Dom. _

The man nodded, "I suppose you could say that."

"I'll remember that," Letty said beginning to walk off.

"A young girl like you should walk the streets alone," the man called to her. "You might get hurt."

Letty waved the man off, continuing to comb through the people gathered around. From the looks of it, another race had just ended and the crowds swept to crowd the winner.

"_Dominic!" _

Although the Mexican accent was new, the high nasally seductive voice still had street racer's slut written all over it—and Dominic Toretto better pray to the _car gods _that she had heard wrong.

Pushing through the people, Letty was able to make it to the front in prime time. The woman's arms were thrown across Dom's broad shoulders and her leg was beginning to hitch up his leg and her lips covered his own.

Her first reaction was hurt.

In truth, Sandy Tran had made history has the only girl to ever get into Dom's pants after he started seeing Letty. And because of the pure hell that it had brought him, Dominic **never **let another woman kiss him, although the flirting was something that the Italian had yet to overcome. And Dominic being wrapped up in another woman's embrace brought back memories that she had suppressed for years.

Her second reaction was pure rage.

It blinded nearly everything. After all the shit she had put up with through these past years, after all the shit she had put with this _week, _there was no way that he let this slut hang over him: _oh hell no. _

"_Dominic what the __**fuck **__is your problem?" Letty had screamed at him one night after they had come home from the races. _

"_Letty we were just talking. You're acting like I screwed her or something," Dom yelled back. _

"_Just talking? Oh, like how you were with Tran? Was it __**that **__kind of talking?" _

"_Leticia chill the __**fuck **__down," Dom snapped. "Of course it wasn't that! Stop trying to make a scene out of this!" _

With a less than gentle tug, Letty pushed the woman off of Dom and faced her boyfriend as her right hand flung across his face.

She could tell, even without the additional angry red mark on the left side of his face that Dom looked like crap. There were bags under his eyes, lines across his forehead and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. But he would find little sympathy in her.

"Where you just **talking **Dom?" Letty asked.

In shock, Dominic couldn't even speak. Letty knew how to pitch a fit. She knew how to cuss someone into a real mess, and she had done both of these things to Dominic on several occasions. But she rarely ever hit him.

"Letty, I—"

"Oi!" one of the racers interrupted, giving Dom his cash. "Ustedes dos hagan esto en otro lugar tengo dinero y mujeres que ganar!"

"Relax estas p.u.t.a.s. cojen lo que sea hasta un corredor mierda como tu," Letty snapped at the racer. "Beside, Dominic and I are **done**."

Letty knew that Dom was following her as she stalked off. She passed all the cars and onlookers until she reached her car and began to drive off.

Somewhere along the highway, without ever turning back for a second, Letty knew that Dominic had caught up with her. As if the honking horns wasn't obvious enough. She willingly led him to her uncle's home where she was hiding out until it was time to ride back up to L.A. for Vince. Even despite his pleas, she didn't look at him when they arrived at the house. Instead she got out of her car, and opened the front door and gestured for Dominic to get inside.

"There's food in the refrigerator, clean clothes in the guest bedroom, blankets in the closet and Corona in the back. I don't think there's anything else you need, Toretto, so excuse me," Letty snapped heading back towards the front door.

"Damnit, Leticia will just listen to me?" Dom yelled.

"No!" Letty yelled back. "Because I'm not going to sit here and listen to spin a tale about how it wasn't _your _fault, and you didn't mean it, and you didn't know what you were thinking!"

"Shit Letty, I lost it! Don't you think I know that? Do you know how much shit I've got on my shoulders? Jesse is dead because of me! Me damnit! Brian was _cop_ and _I _let him in to our family!"

"¿Y "¿Donde carajo crees que he estado, en unas malditas vacaciones?" Letty yelled back. "You are so wrapped up in your world, you've forgotten about everybody else. Like Mia and Leon, and me! You have time to screw around with bimbos, but you don't have time to deal with your own shit! Man up, Dominic!"

"I **am **a man!" Dominic roared.

"Then start **acting **like one!" Letty yelled back.

There was a silence in between them where only heavy breaths could be heard and the silent breaking of hearts.

"A man," Letty started, this time much softer and with a slightly hoarse voice, "a _real _man would apologize, because he knew that he was wrong. A man would call his family within the first few hours and not make his girlfriend have to chase after him—"

"The phone lines were disconnected—"

"Dominic you know our cells, don't start that _shit._" Letty snapped.

Dominic's eyes fell to the floor as he ran a hand over his head. When he finally looked back up, Letty could see that shame had swept his face and when he spoke again, he was much softer and spoke his anguish.

"I just—I just wanted to forget. I just wanted to forget the sirens, Jesse's face, the trucks, O'Connor. Shit Letty, I just didn't want to feel. Leticia, I'm sorry."

His apology hit her with such sincerity that it hurt to look and him and Letty had to turn away from his gaze.

"You have told me that you're sorry _so _many times, Dom," Letty mumbled.

"Letty baby," he called softly approaching her, and cupping her face in his hands. He moved dangerously close to her, bringing her into his embrace.

"Vince," Letty said suddenly. She knew the mention of his best friend would remind Dom that his issues weren't over with. "He's in a hospital in L.A. and the police are just waiting for the doctor's consent before they book him into Lompoc."

Dom pulled away and his face clenched tight with pain.

"We're breaking him out," Letty stated.

"Of prison?" Dominic asked skepticism high in his voice. "We can't break him out of Lompoc, Letty."

"No," Letty agreed. "But we can get him off of the transit bus. After all it is just one big—"

"—truck," Dominic finished.

"But this **will **be the last heist," Letty snapped. "And after we get Vince out of L.A., you, V and Leon can go wherever the hell you'd like. But you sure as hell won't be going anywhere with me."

Letty saved no glare for Dominic, in fear that the pain on his face might just make her wall succumb to guilt, but instead stalked out of the house and drove to her heaven: the ocean.

* * *

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review! Translations Below.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter

**Translations: **

"¿Esta usted buscando a alguien, señorita?" the bartender asked. "¿O esta solamente pasando por el veclindario?"= _Are you looking for someone, miss? Or are you just in the neighborhood?_

"Ambas." = _Both _

"¿Es americano?" = _Is he American?_

"Si." = _Yes_

"Y tú eres ..?" = _And you are?_

"Correr." = _Race._

"Ustedes dos hagan esto en otro lugar tengo dinero y mujeres que ganar!" = _Both of you take this somewhere else. I have money and women to win!_

"Relax estas p.u.t.a.s. cojen lo que sea hasta un corredor mierda como tu" = _Relax, these sluts will take anything, even a half-ass racer like you_

"¿Donde carajo crees que he estado, en unas malditas vacaciones?"= _Where do you think I've been, on a fucking vacation?_


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 7

Oliver Memorial was a quiet place that Sunday morning. The only four people in the cemetery were all crowded around the same grave, all in hushed agony.

Flowers and tears covered the ground where Jesse lay. Kendall stood on the edge of the grave, a hand rubbing Mia tenderly. The poor girl was having one hell of a week. Vince was in the hospital, Dom and Letty were on the run, and Jesse was…gone.

Leon stood on the other side of Mia, arms crossed and eyes closed, not ready to come face to face with his new reality. Jesse had been like his little brother. It was his job to protect him. He should have fought harder that night, he should have convinced Dom not go on the last heist and spend their time doing what they should have been doing—finding Jesse.

On the other side of Leon, stood a taller version of Kendall, wrapped in a black double breasted jacket and a light blue scarf. Kimberly Cadmen, Kendall's older sister, starred down at the grave coldly, not because she had something against Jesse, but because life had yet to stop with its on-going karma: Jesse was the sixth member of family that she had to help put to rest. Sure, she had known him the least, but the young quirky and intelligent kid had a charisma that melted her heart and allowed protective and slightly overbearing people like Dominic to open his home to him. He was everybody's little brother, everybody's laughter, everybody's Jesse.

Kimberly turned her attention to Mia, who was still weeping slightly. The poor girl hadn't kept a dry eye since they arrived, and Kimberly figured it was time to give Mia some rest. She eyed Kendall, who in returned slowly began to turn Mia away from the grave.

"C'mon sweetheart, he's in a better place now," Kendall whispered softly, "a much better place."

As Kendall led the weeping Mia back down the hill where their cars were parked, Kimberly turned her attention to Leon.

"So what are you going to do?" Leon asked his eyes still locked on Jesse's grave.

It was the question that had tormented her since she arrived in L.A. Without stepping a foot in her hometown, she had known something was wrong. After all, she had been the one who noticed Dom's payment numbers in the beginning. And when he clammed up, there was an underlying whisper that hissed how things were going to end up bad.

But what _was _she going to do? On one hand, part of her, the more logical part of her, was quite intent on making Leon turn himself in. There's no 'I' in team and Vince sure as hell didn't deserve to go to jail alone for a crime that he did not commit alone. After all, what idiot does a heist in the middle of the morning, in broad daylight? There was a very big part of her that just wanted to turn to Leon and snap, "Karma's a bitch."

Opposite her logic was her sentimental side, the one that was closely intertwined with her crazy family. She knew that although logically, it made sense for them all to turn themselves in, that morally she wouldn't be able to stand it. Jesse's death was enough punishment in her eyes, and frankly when her mother Krystal hears about this, she's going to hit the roof. Besides, she's lost two of her brothers, two father figures, a mother figure and the closest thing she ever had to a grandmother. Frankly Kimberly wasn't sure she could let Vince go to jail and be okay.

What did Fate have against the Toretto/Cadmen clan?

"Killing Dominic seems like a nice idea right about now," Kimberly replied. She watched as Leon smirked slightly.

"You'll have plenty of help with that," Leon replied. "But seriously…"

"Seriously? I don't know Leon. Part of me says 'Karma's a bitch' and I wish you all had learned that before someone got killed."

"So you think we deserved this?" Leon snapped, venom coaxing his voice. But it held no fear in Kimberly's eyes. She had been raised by boys—animals if she were to be accurate. There was nothing that he could do or say that would scare her.

"Forget the fact that what you were doing was illegal; you all were dumb enough to do it in the damn daylight! I mean who hi-jacks a truck in _clear blue skies? _What were you all trying to figure out: the easiest way to get caught?"

Leon looked back down and frowned, knowing that he couldn't rival her.

"But then there's that part of me that figures that this is beyond you, me and Dom," Kimberly continued. "Vince is a part of this family. And since I know Dominic has no plans to go back to Lompoc any time soon, we're going to have to get Vince out of the hands of the police."

"So you're going to help us?" Leon asked turning back to face her. "Why?"

"Other than the fact that we're family and we can't just leave each other to rot in this world?" Kimberly asked. Leon nodded.

Kim smirked mischievously before responding, "Because I can't wait for my mother to kick your **asses**."

The evening progressed slowly for all of them. Mia instantly retired to her room, when they came back from the cemetery, only emerging for dinner, which Kimberly cooked. Kendall caught up on a few phone calls and Leon sat around the house, mostly to himself, remembering in peace and agony.

The next day however, well after the sun had risen, a loud female cry shook the foundation of the house. Leon, Kendall and Kimberly, who had all been sleeping upstairs, ran back down to see Mia sitting on the couch weeping.

Figuring it was about Jesse, Kimberly straighten up and nodded for Kendall to resume comforting Mia. Leon sighed and began to head back up the stairs when Mia's weeping words unraveled into sentences.

"…they're moving…he's going…." Mia cried, "…to Lompoc."

"Lompoc?" Kimberly asked. "Who's going to Lompoc?"

"Vince!"

Leon froze at the foot of the stairs and Kendall stopped massaging her back.

"Mia," Kendall said slowly, "I need you to explain to us exactly what you're talking about."

"I went to the hospital to see Vince," Mia began. "I just wanted to check up on him, see how he was doing. And the police officers in the hall wouldn't let me in. They said that I'd have to wait until the end. So I asked, 'the end of what?' And he told me that the judge and the prosecutor where there to see him, for his sentencing!"

"That's impossible," Kimberly replied. "Vince would need a lawyer."

"I know," Mia cried. "And I asked where was his lawyer and they said that he didn't want one!"

Kendall's eyes, wide with terror met Kimberly's frantically as Leon began to pace the room.

"That means that they could haul him off any day. We'd never know! We need to call Dom and—"

"No," Kimberly said. "We need to relax and think this out."

"We don't have TIME!" Leon yelled.

"I know what to do," Kendall said getting up. "I've got a mutual friend who works for the FBI. Maybe he can tell me what's going on."

"And what do you expect this _mutual friend _to do? Hand you the file?" Kimberly snapped.

Kendall glared at her before standing up and heading for the door. "I'll handle it."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Los Angeles Headquarters was a twenty minute ride from the Toretto's. When Kendall arrived she parked her car in visitor's parking and quickly made her way through the lobby and security, up a flight of steps and straight to the nearest secretary's desk.

"Hello, may I help you?" the woman asked, turning her attention from one of the Bureau's agents next to her.

"Yes, I was wondering if Agent Collins was in." Kendall asked.

"Now why does Collins always get such attractive visitors?" the agent beside the secretary asked.

"I guess you could say I'm just lucky Simmons."

Kendall turned to see Agent Brandon Collins emerging from the elevator and heading her way.

"Kendall, why don't you come with me?" Collins suggested, leading her away from the front desk. Neither of them spoke to each other until they reached inside of his office. When they entered his office, Brandon took a seat behind his desk and leaned back in his chair waiting for Kendall to begin.

"So…"

Kendall smiled. "So how goes things?"

Brandon shook his head. "Stressful actually," he replied. "I'm working on the Toretto case."

"Oh really?"

He starred at her for a moment before leaning over his desk and continuing, "Yeah. Actually, funny thing about this case, I was looking though the Los Angeles Police Department file on Toretto and ran across some things about his father."

Kendall narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What about him?"

Brandon pulled out a photograph and slid in across his desk. Kendall leaned down to see the picture of Tony, smiling widely after one of his races.

"I was a bit shocked when I recognized the photograph," Brandon continued, "from your living room. So I got curious, and did a little more research. You never mentioned that you knew the Toretto family."

"You never asked."

"Listen to me Kendall," Brandon said. "I don't know why you're here, but I have a good hunch. He's _going _to get caught and there's nothing you can do about it. There's I can do about it, so don't ask. Dominic Toretto is a criminal."

Kendall picked up the picture of Tony and as she starred at it remembering, she responded, "When I was younger, Tony used to teach us that there we had to be cautious in picking our battles, but that should never stop us for fighting for the right things. But he said above all, that no matter what any of us did, we'd always be a family, that we'd always love each other. Dominic Toretto is family."

Brandon opened his mouth to respond when a knock came from his door as another man—an agent, entered.

"Collins," the man greeted.

"Kendall this is my partner Jonathan Lukas. Lukas, this is Kendall Cadmen," Brandon introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you," Lukas smiled. "Collins, Bowman wants a quick word."

"Alright, I'll be right there," Brandon replied. "Kendall I have to go see what this is about. Hang tight it should only take about five minutes."

Kendall nodded and Brandon and Lukas left the room, leaving her in the perfect opportunity.

Kendall lazily walked around the room and rested in Brandon's chair. She leaned back in the chair with every intention to take a gaze into the open file before her, when out of the corner of her eye, Kendall caught a security camera in the room.

_It would be all too perfect, _she thought bitterly quickly gathering her things. She was many things, but a fool was not one of them and Brandon was defiantly going to have to try harder.

Leaving the office, Kendall stepped into the hall and spotted a drinking fountain across the hall in a darkening corner, next to a door that was slightly ajar. She walked over to take a sip, over hearing the ends of a conversation.

"…After tomorrow this Toretto case will all be over with," one man said.

"I can't wait to bag this bastard and his little crew," another man responded, who she recognized as Lukas' voice. "Six months we've been on this hijacking case. I'm glad its coming to an end."

"Good riddance to it. So bright and early for tomorrow's transfer?"

"Yep," Lukas answered. "It's a little over a three hour ride to Lompoc. The bus is supposed to be transporting the prisoner around nine in the morning, so he's due to arrive sometime in the twelve o'clock hour."

"Well I should get going. I've got a long day ahead of me…"

Kendall straightened back up and quickly headed back towards the secretary's desk in the front.

"Can you tell Agent Collins that something came up and I'll call him to reschedule our appointment?" Kendall asked politely.

"Of course ma'am," the secretary replied.

"And tell him that he should invest in upgrading the security camera's in his office."

"May I ask why?"

"Oh he'll know what I'm talking about."

When Kendall arrived back to the Toretto's, Mia was no where to in sight, but Leon was just getting off of the phone and Kimberly was running her hands through her hair.

"You'd get a hold of Dom and Letty," Kendall said. "Mia's right. The FBI is putting Vince on a bus to Lompoc _tomorrow._"

"Well we've that's just _fantastic,_" Leon snapped bitterly.

"What now?" Kendall asked. "Did someone get hurt? Where's Mia?"

"Mia's fine," Leon answered. "But we're not going to be. It's your mother."

"What about her?"

"She heard about Vince," Kimberly answered raising her head. "She's on a red-eye flight down to LA."

Kendall groaned and swore.

"So how mad is Krystal going to be when she finds out that about our plan to break V out?" Leon asked. "She's going to kill us, right?"

"Plan your funeral now Leon," Kendall suggested.

"So does that mean, we're not going to do it?" Leon asked. "I mean, c'mon, as long we hide Old Susanna, and put up the kitchen knives there's not much Krystal can do to us."

Kimberly laughed bitterly. "We've only got one shot, so yes; we're still going to do it. But Leon, I would heavily suggest that you do not underestimate my mother. She's definitely the only grown woman Dominic is afraid. Trust me on this one; you have _no _idea what Krystal Cadmen is capable of."

* * *

First I wanted to say thank you to all of my reviewers, I do greatly apperciate your comments. And a special thanks to M3L2011 for correcting me with my spanish errors. Also, I realized the other day, that there'll only be about five to six more updates before this short story is over. Had I thought about it, I probably wouldn't have started with this point in Dominic and Letty's lives, but I do plan on covering what happened before _When Things Go Wrong _and what happens after it. So as the reader, what would you prefer to read: the beginning or the events afterwards? As always thank you so much for reading and please don't forget to review!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 8

Around eleven-thirty a.m., a dark blue metallic Pontiac 3G rolled back into the Good Samaritan Hospital parking lot. From the car emerged a tall African-American male, who slammed the door shut as he listen the voicemail of the Toretto's over his cell phone.

"Hello," Mia's bright automated voice greeted. "You've reached the Toretto's. We're not in at the moment, but if you leave a message, one of us will be sure to get back to you."

"Mia," Kadeem Cadmen began after the beep. "Where the hell are you? This is the third time I've called. In case you all have forgotten, _Vince _is in the hospital! Give me a call back, and damnit pick up the phone!"

Kadeem close the phone and sighed in frustration. After watching Dominic, Letty and Vince grow up, Kadeem, who had a good nine years on the trio, knew what they were capable of and had a pretty good idea of where they might be. It was obvious to him that they were probably preparing from some sort of way to break Vince out. He didn't blame them. There were several cops monitoring the hall that Vince's room was in, waiting—and hungrily at that, for the doctor's okay. Of course after that, they'd haul him off to Lompoc.

Walking into the hospital, Kadeem headed straight for the elevator and to V's floor. Inside his room, Kadeem found his mother, Krystal, leaning over Vince was barely awake.

"Krystal," Vince groaned softly.

"Hey there big guy, how are we feeling?" she asked him softly.

"Like shit," he laughed in mid cough.

"Easy there," Krystal said. "We don't need to lose you twice."

"You know?" Vince asked.

"There will always be an audience for California's Stupidest Offenders," Krystal replied smartly.

"That's not a show," Vince replied coughing.

"No, but if it was, you and Dominic would be the stars," Krystal assured.

"Dom," Vince whispered turning his head to look around the room. "Where is he? Where are they?"

The smile from Krystal's face fell as she rubbed Vince's right arm, now bandaged and replied, "I'm not sure."

"So he left me then," Vince responded after a moment, a frown deepening his face.

Krystal stared at him for a moment before hitting him softly against the head. "Cut that out."

"Cut what out?"

"You're not alone, Vince," Krystal said. "You don't see me and Kadeem?"

"Hey man," Vince greeted to Kadeem.

"Hey V. How are you feeling?" Kadeem asked coming up beside Vince's bed.

"Like I have twenty tubes in me. You?"

"Vince," Kadeem laughed. "You've only got three."

"Close enough."

"Excuse me, but I do believe it's time for Vincent's check up," Doctor Ethane, interrupted entering the room.

"Of course Doctor," Krystal said getting up.

"Hey ma, can I talk you for a minute?" Kadeem asked. Krystal nodded and squeezed Vince and followed Kadeem outside.

"So I'm guessing you didn't get a hold of them," Krystal said as they walked through the halls of the hospital.

"Not a single one of them," Kadeem replied. "All voicemails. I can't imagine where they'd be."

"Causing trouble," Krystal answered. "But are you _sure _you don't know. I'd hate to have to kill all of my remaining children."

"Mom, I'm serious about this," Kadeem answered. "I have **no **idea where they are. V's in the hospital. I wouldn't play around about something like this."

"Well that part is the truth," Krystal reasoned. "You were always the snitch, it's no wonder they didn't tell you."

"Real funny, ma," Kadeem frowned. "Listen we really need to figure out what we're going to do. I think we should…"

Krystal zoned out a bit as her son ranted on about his siblings. She nodded along knowing that Kadeem had his heart in the right place, but she knew that finding Dominic wasn't going to be the issue—getting Dominic out of whatever trouble that he'd managed to fall into would be.

And as Kadeem continued to talk, Krystal noticed the growing smirk on one of the officer's face, stationed in the hall. It would rise increasingly as the stress in Kadeem's voice would.

"Something humorous officer?" Krystal asked, interrupting her son's rant.

The officer stumbled a bit, before straightening up and answering, "Just a private thought."

"Oh do share," Krystal continued. "I haven't had a good laugh in days."

"Ma," Kadeem warned.

"I'm not too sure you'd find it funny, ma'am," the officer responded.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Krystal said. "After all, there's nothing funnier that this fat lard holding up the wall in his Halloween costume, smirking because he's finally done something right. And it probably wasn't even him, more like his skinny, half-ass partner who can actually _run _a mile. But that doesn't really matter, he's still going to go home with a smirk on his face, and his little victory donut, convinced that he actually did something. Now that's humorous."

The officer went red in the face and bit his tongue trying to push down the insults begging to be loosed.

"You Torettos are all the same aren't you," the officer growled.

"Kindergarteners have better self control," Krystal snapped. "They don't teach you that at your Halloween party?"

The officer bit his lip and laughed bitterly, "What they do teach me at my Halloween party is that crime doesn't pay."

"Well it's downright criminal that you're legally out and about, so I'd say crime pays pretty _damn _well."

"Y'know what lady," the officer growled advancing towards her.

"Is there a problem officer?"

A tall African-American FBI Agent was advancing from the hall, a frown set on his face.

"Is there a problem officer?" the agent repeated.

"N-no sir," the officer replied.

"Good," the agent replied. "Could you excuse us, officer? I need a word with Mrs. Cadmen."

The officer nodded and promptly headed down the hall.

"Krystal Cadmen, it's a pleasure to meet you," the agent greeted offering his hand.

Krystal didn't take it. Instead and smirk formed on her face as she circled the man.

"Well you're obviously handsome, nice suit, a steady, well paying job, well-built. You're a bit shorter than her last boyfriend, but I'm sure you make up for it. And on top of the fact that all my government files to still name me a Krystal _Joyner_, you must be the new thing that Kendall is screwing."

The man's mouth gaped open for a minute before he retracted his hand.

"I think that's code for: Bingo," Kadeem smirked.

"Brandon Collins," the agent introduced himself. "And yes, I am seeing your daughter."

"Thought so," Krystal replied. "So what do you want Brandon Collins?"

"I was wondering if you'd seen Kendall."

"Does it look like I've seen my daughter?" Krystal snapped.

Brandon sighed. "A vain hope, then. You'll have to excuse me."

"Not so fast," Krystal cut in. "Why don't you tell me what you came down here to tell."

"Excuse me?"

"You know something that I don't know, that much is obvious," Krystal continued. "And if you gave a half-ass about my daughter, you'd tell me what that is."

"I don't think you understand my profession," Brandon replied. "I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I help put _guilty _men behind bars."

"Well then, you must be joining them soon," Krystal responded. "Because I can't imagine the _guilt _you'll feel when this is all said and done."

Brandon sighed for a minute, weighing his options. He caught a glance of one of the hospital security camera and headed down towards the elevator. Krystal wordlessly followed him. He led her out of the hospital, to the parking lot and straight up to a grey Nissan, which he stopped in front of.

"You have to get a hold of her," Brandon said. "She's running into a trap."

"What trap?" Krystal asked.

"They think that Vince is being transported this morning. Yesterday Mia Toretto came into the hospital and ran into what she believed to be one of the Los Angeles judicators and prosecutors, but they were only FBI officers in disguise. And early this morning we got footage of Dominic Toretto crossing the border with Leticia Ortiz. There was a bus released around nine a.m. that is headed for Lompoc—"

"And they think Vince is on it," Krystal finished. "They're going to try to break him out."

"There are three FBI and police officers on that transit bus, and there's a unit about ten miles from Lompoc, waiting for the word."

"They're running into a massacre," Krystal swore. "So why did you decide to tell me this?"

Brandon paused for a minute before he responded. "When Kendall came into my office yesterday trying to figure out if Vince was getting transported, I tried to explain to her that Dominic was a criminal and he deserved to be punished. But she replied that the only thing Dominic was…is family. I was raised an orphan Mrs. Cadmen, and no one ever really took much interest in me, so I've never really had a family. Hell, Kendall is the closest I've ever come, and I'm not willingly to lose her."

"Remind me when this is all said and done, to be some-what nice to you," Krystal replied.

"Just find her please," Brandon replied. "That's all I care about."

"You let me worry about Kendall," Krystal said heading back for the hospital.

At the hospital entrance, Kadeem stood waiting for his mother.

"Well?" he asked.

Krystal raised a finger, telling Kadeem to hold his thought as she dialed the number to Kimberly's cell.

It rang three times before she got her answer machine.

"Let's try this again," Krystal mumbled to herself, redialing.

"You really think they're going to pick up?" Kadeem asked.

"Kadeem, I've been your mother for over twenty years now, don't you think I have a good idea of what is going to work and what isn't?"

Ring. Ring. RI-

"Hello?"

"Hi Kimberly," Krystal began sweetly.

"Mom!" Kimberly greeted. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to pick you up this morning. Leon just told me about your flight. Are you in L.A.?"

"Yes," Krystal answered. "I'm at the hospital actually, wondering where the hell you are."

"Oh, well Mia, poor thing, she's been through so much lately, and she kinda just ran off this morning, so Kendall and I went to go find her," Kimberly lied.

"She _kinda_ ran off?" Krystal asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy."

"I'm sure," Krystal answered. "So is that the best lie you can come up with? Because I know I taught you better that than."

"..Excuse me?"

"Why don't we try this again," Krystal suggested. "Where are you, Kimberly?"

"I'm on my way to—I don't understand. Is this a trick?"

"What I don't understand is why my children think that they are slick enough to lie to **me**. I mean you'd think after twenty-five plus years, one of you would get it!"

"You know don't you?" Kimberly groaned.

"Oh I know alright, I also know something else—you're running into a blitz."

"What?"

"It's a blitz Kimberly. Vincent hasn't left the hospital."

"But the transit bus I just—"

"The only thing that's on that transit bus, are police officers waiting to arrest you," Krystal interjected. "Now unless someone is really that interested in an 8 by 8 jail cell, I'd suggest you turn your ass around and meet me at the house."

"O-okay, I have to get Dom and the others. Shit! Are you sure, ma?" Kimberly asked.

"Well seeing as though Kendall FBI boyfriend just confirmed it, I'm pretty damn sure. Call me when you're at the house."

"Okay, I gotta go get them. I'll call you when it's safe."

Krystal closed the phone and put it back in her pocket.

"Do you think they're going to make it?" Kadeem asked as they headed back inside the hospital.

"I wish I knew the answer to that," Krystal responded.

"Well if there's one thing Dominic knows how to do is drive a car. I'm sure they'll all be able to get out of there in time," Kadeem assured.

"Dominic also happens to be extremely stubborn. It's been hell for him this week. I'm more worried that Kimberly may not be able to convince him in time."

Kadeem nodded in agreement before asking, "So, say they get back in time, what exactly do you have planned for them?"

"I'm going to kill them," Krystal replied smoothly, stepping onto the elevator. "And then on the third day, I'll resurrect them from the dead and kill them again—for starters."

When they reached Vince's room a few minutes later, Vince was sitting up in the bed, leaning over fumbling with the sheets.

"What are you doing V?" Kadeem asked.

"I need to pee," Vince replied. "I'm trying find that stupid button for the nurse."

"I'll go get you a nurse," Krystal offered.

At the nurse's desk was a beautiful young nurse. She was a small woman of Asian descent, wearing a pair of green scrubs. When Krystal approached, the woman flashed smiled.

"Can I help you ma'am?" the nurse asked politely.

"Yes, I need some assistance in room 308," Krystal replied. "He needs to use the bathroom."

"308, oh that's Vincent Carter's room." the nurse said. "He's a friend of Dominic's right?"

"Dominic Toretto, yes," Krystal answered suspiciously.

"My older brother knew Dominic pretty well," the nurse explained. "But, um I'll make sure Vince gets someone to assist him."

"Thank you Nurse Tram," Krystal replied quickly reading her nametag.

"Tran," the nurse corrected.

"Oh sorry," Krystal replied.

"Ma!"

Krystal turned to see Kadeem up the hall with the doctor.

"Excuse me," Krystal told the nurse heading towards her son.

"So how is he doing, doc?" Kadeem asked when Krystal had joined them.

"Well we're going to have to put Vince through surgery to see if we can regain some of the lost nerve damage," the doctor answered. "Vince also has some muscle damage as well, so he's going to be a bit weak for awhile, but after his release, give or take about two to three weeks, he should be just fine."

"So statistically Vince should be just fine?" Krystal asked.

"Yes ma'am," the doctor assured. "The surgery is being carried out by some of our best physicians, so I can assure to you that Vince is in the best of care. He's going to make it."

* * *

Thanks for reading and please don't forget to review.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 9

Mia knew that something was wrong when she first watched Letty and Dom pull up on the street. The first thing that caught her attention was the fact that they were riding in separate cars. It was a small thing that Leon dismissed with a side comment about needing an extra car anyway. But he couldn't ignore the space between Dom and Letty. It had pain written all over it. Letty was the first person to reach Mia, Leon, Kendall and Kimberly and hugged them all. Dominic came next, but when their greetings were done, Mia could have fit in between the couple, when usually Dominic makes no room for anyone between him and his Letty. But she wasn't _his _Letty today.

"Why don't we head in?" Kendall suggested looking suspiciously between the two of them.

They all gathered in the kitchen and Dominic rested at the head of the table.

"So what are we looking at?" Dom asked.

"_We _are looking to break Vince out of jail," Kimberly responded, "_you _however are looking at a slow and very painful death."

"Nice seeing you too, Kim," Dom replied.

"And I plan on helping," Kendall interjected. He was in trouble. "Now I've given Leon, the 'I can't believe you were that dumb' speech about ten times now, so after we get Vince out, I'll give it to you both that speech at least twelve and Letty you get the honors of hearing it too. Because I honestly, _I can't believe you were that dumb!_"

"I think this is going to be your best lecture yet, K," Dom replied.

"How about we worry about the future when it comes," Letty cut in. "We need to go over the game plan."

"Right," Kendall agreed. "So the transfer bus to Lompoc is set to leave around nine in the morning and arrive at the prison at noon. Our best bet is to intercept Vince right before we hit the desert area, which is the halfway point, right Dom?"

Dominic nodded slowly.

"Leon and I picked up some more shot guns," Kendall continued. "I figured we'd have four cars. One in the far front, making sure that no heat is coming from the north end. One car in the far back to check for police from the southern end and then two cars who actually blow out the tires of the transit bus."

"And who's getting V off of the bus?" Letty asked.

"I'll do it," Dominic answered. "It's my responsibility."

It didn't miss Kendall that Letty rolled her eyes at Dominic's statement.

"So then it's settled," Mia said.

"Yeah," Dom agreed. "So we're going have one to a car, expect one car that's doubled? That's only going to leave us with one shooter."

"Actually, it's one two a car, with two doubles," Kendall clarified.

"Two?" Dom asked. "We don't have enough—"

His eyes fell on his younger sister leaning against the door way.

"Hell no."

"Dominic," Kimberly warned.

"Hell yes!" Mia spat back.

"No, how about I make myself perfectly clear: fuck no," Dominic continued. "You are **not **coming with us Mia."

"And why the hell not? Because I don't belong? Because I'm not cut out for this? Can't you see that none of that matters anymore?" Mia yelled back. "Vince was my friend too!"

"Besides," Kimberly cut in. "We don't have time to find another driver. Mia will be up front, on look out. She'll get the least amount of action. You and Letty will rid together and Leon and Kendall will rid together. I'll take the back end. No if, ands or buts about it. We all clear?"

Although a frown was set on Dominic's face they all nodded in agreement.

"What time is it?" Leon asked.

"Five past six why?" Letty asked.

"Good we have time," Mia said. "C'mon there's somewhere we need to go."

In the dew of the morning Oliver Memorial sat still and at peace. Mia, Leon and the Cadmen sisters led Dom and Letty out to Jesse's graves to finally pay their respects to their lost friend.

Letty reached the grave first and bent down, running her hands lightly over the tombstone. The feeling was almost surreal. She had never guessed that she'd have to live a day without Jesse and his awkwardness or his humor. He'd been her little brother. Someone she could look after the way that the Toretto's and the Cadmen family had looked after her.

Especially one person in particular…

Thinking about him made her heart swell in pain. She had trained herself so well to not let his name come across her thoughts, because the loneness that she felt after his death broke her to the core. He had been her rock. Her best friend and had protected her since she moved onto 7th Ave at the tender age of ten.

Letty hadn't noticed that her feet were slowly moving away from Jesse's grave to the other graves that were placed nearby, straight for Cameron's.

"Not today Letty."

Kendall's words were soft but staccato. She'd seen Letty's wandering gaze over to her younger brother's grave, but Kendall wasn't interested in feeling any unnecessary pain or guilt—especially not before this heist.

Dominic, who was squatted in front of Jesse's grave, gazed over past Letty, to the grave of his long lost friend and sighed. There wasn't enough time to do this right, and with the thoughts of the transit bus bombarding him, Dominic stood up from the grave.

"We need to get going," he said. "We've got quite the day ahead of us. C'mon Letty you're riding with me."

_It was a bright, windy day at the pier and two males—one Italian, one African-American, sat across from each other silently eating their food. The ebony skinned man leaned back in his chair after one particular sip of his drink and smiled knowingly at his friend. _

"_So did you sleep with my sister?" Cameron Cadmen asked. _

_Dominic rolled his eyes. "Which one?" _

"_That's disgusting," Cameron replied. "You know who I'm talking about."_

_In truth Dominic did. By blood Cameron had two older sisters—Kimberly and Kendall, but in all other aspects, Leticia Ortiz was his younger sister. _

"_What's the question again?" _

"_Dom," Cameron snapped. _

_Dominic stopped eating and glared at his friend for a moment before asking, "When did you know that Keiara was what you wanted?" _

"_Keiara? What does __**my **__girlfriend have to do with Letty?" Cameron asked._

"_Just answer the question," Dom replied. _

"_I don't know, um I guess I was at her house working on some project junior year and you know by then, we were already talking. I guess that night as we were working, I sort sat back and just let her talk. And as she was talking, I just thought about all the things I loved about her, all the things that drove me crazy. And as she was rambling and I was thinking, it sort hit me that this was what I wanted. And even if there was something better for me out there, I sure as hell didn't want it."_

"_Just like that?" Dom asked. _

"_Yeah, now how about you answer my original question," Cameron replied._

"_No." _

"_No?"_

"_No, I did not sleep with Letty," Dom responded. _

"_Ah, I see. Why not?" _

"_Seriously?" Dom laughed. "You're asking me why I didn't sleep with your little sister?"_

"_Dominic, I already know you're slow, but I wasn't aware of the fact that you're also deaf," Cameron said. "Seriously, tell me what happened. You guys were in a hotel room together for about a week. Something happened."_

"_Other than the fact that my dad __**died **__this week?" Dominic asked. _

_Cameron didn't respond verbally, but nodded. _

"_I don't know," Dom shrugged after a moment. "It's just not the right time, y'know. Life is kinda crazy right now. I just need space. And Letty….she's special. I don't want to fuck things up with her." _

_Cameron smiled slightly at Dom before responding. "You know Dom, there's going to be a time that something is going to go terribly wrong. And for whatever reason, I'm not going to be there to help you figure things out, and you're going to have to a make a decision that goes just beyond your own welfare, but the welfare of others. Like Letty. And I know that you are capable of making good decisions—the right decision, so when you get to that moment, I really want you to think about what you just said."_

The ride out had been awkwardly quiet for Letty and Dom. She refused to look at him or even acknowledge his presence the entire way there and Dominic, himself, had been lost in his own thoughts.

"Letty," Dominic began. "I know that you're sick of me saying this but—"

"If it has the words: I'm and sorry in it, I don't want to hear it. Save your breath for someone who cares," Letty snapped.

"Letty, I know I've been a dick and I haven't made this relationship the easiest," Dominic continued. "But, I _**am **_sorry. And I know that there isn't any excuse for what I did, but Letty I know that there isn't a single woman out there who gives a shit like you do, and I don't want to lose that."

"Here's the problem Dominic," Letty snapped. "You spin these tales all the fucking time. But there's never any _action! _Unless it has something to do with you and the bed sheets!_" _

Dominic sighed. He knew that this battle wouldn't be easy, but he knew more importantly that he couldn't lose her. Letty was too damn important to him.

"Kimberly, where the hell is this bus?" Leon complained over the walkie-talkies they were using. "It's been almost an hour. It should have been here by now."

Leon's interruption would have just been ignored by Dom, and he would have been able to go back to his conversation with Letty if Kimberly had given a response along the lines of, "Can it Leon and be patient", instead of the response that they did get—nothing.

"Kimberly?" Kendall called into the two way radio. "Kimberly, come in."

There was no response.

"She probably forgot to put the batteries in," Dom sighed.

"But Kimberly is the smart one," Leon replied. "After all I thought it was Kadeem who was the stupid one."

"Kimberly doesn't do well with electronics," Letty said.

"Besides," Kendall added, "Kadeem is the one with the big mouth. Don't you just love our family?"

"Yeah, and I like a hell of a lot more when one of us isn't behind bars," Dom snapped.

Letty snorted and Kendall simultaneously snapped over the two-way, "Welcome to my life!"

"Just call your sister," Dominic snapped back.

"You better slow your roll, Neanderthal," Kendall warned.

Dominic sighed and turned back to Letty who was starring out the passenger window.

"So where are you going to go?" Dom asked. "If you leave, I mean."

"_When _I leave," Letty corrected, "I'll probably head south, back down to the Dominican Republic. I've got some old friends down there who run a garage. I'll see if they need any help."

Dom opened his mouth to reply with Kendall's voice cut through the radio again.

"No response," Kendall announced.

"How many times did you call?" Letty asked.

"Three times. She didn't pick up."

"That's strange," Letty said. "She usually picks up by the third time."

"Unless she left it," Dom said.

"No, I remember her having it."

"Whoo hoo!" Leon cheered over the radio.

"What?" Dom asked.

"The truck has just been spotted," Kendall answered. "We're heading your way."

"Alright, Mia where are you?" Dom asked over the radio.

"I'm about ten miles up," Mia replied, "in the bushes. There's no activity on the scanners."

"Alright you stay there Mia and when we've got him, I'll give you the word to follow Kendall out."

"Everything is going to be fine Dom," Mia said.

"After this, hell yeah it will be," Dom replied.

Letty reached into the back seat where one of the shotguns that Leon had purchased lay.

"You sure you don't want shoot?" Letty asked putting in the rounds.

"No, I'm good," Dom replied. "Besides, I'm sure you have a much better aim right now."

Experience had taught all of them that a pissed Letty, was also a dangerously accurate Letty.

Letty smirked slightly. "Good point."

The bus drove past their hiding place not too much longer and Dominic's engine roared to life and sped on to the road. After he passed Kendall and Leon he drove the car to the transit bus' left side near the back, where Letty's first target was.

"The police scanner just went off, Dom," Mia called through the radio. "The transit bus just called into Lompoc about suspicious behavior on route."

"Alright everybody," Dominic called through the two-way. "Let's make this clean and quick."

Letty rolled the window all the way and pushed her torso as far as possible out the window with the gun outside the window in her ready hands.

"You ready Leon?" Dom asked.

"We're a go," Kendall replied.

"Alright, let's hit it."

Letty's shot went first and with a dead accuracy, the first of the back end tires groaned from the hit and went out. But with another seven tires still rolling, the truck still moved at a reasonable speed.

Leon's shot was not so accurate.

He too, pushed his head outside of the window with the gun, but his aim was screwed by the harsh impact that was felt after the rumble of another engine came and Kimberly ran her bumper into Kendall's.

"What the hell is she doing?" Kendall yelled as Leon swore.

"What's going on back there?" Dom asked.

"It's Kimberly," Kendall replied. "She's caught up with us and ran into by back end."

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Letty snapped in the background.

"We don't have time to worry about her," Dom said. "Leon I need you to get that shot."

As Leon pulled his torso back out of the window on the right side, Letty did the same on the left and her flawless shot took out the second of the back tires on the left side.

"Leon, how are we doing with that shot?" Dom asked.

Kimberly, having seen that Leon was pulling out again for another attempt, swung to the right and ran her car in to Kendall's. She wished that their windows had not been the dark tinted windows that Leon had insisted on. Maybe then she would have been able to get their attention without destroying their cars.

Kendall's car jolted again. Kimberly pulled back and swung right headed for Dom and Letty.

"What is with your sister?" Leon snapped pulling back into the car.

Kendall frowned. It wasn't like Kimberly to just sabotage something like this. Family meant everything to her. If she didn't love Vince like a brother she wouldn't be out here. So Kendall doubted that there was some secret agenda that Kimberly had. No, the only reason Kim would try to stop this was if…

"Leon," Kendall said. "I want you to look out of your window and count the heads on the bus."

"What?"

"Just count the heads on the bus!" Kendall snapped.

Leon did as he was told and stuck his head back out.

"Three," Leon replied. "Why? What's wrong with three people on a tran…oh shit."

"Oh shit is right," Kendall groaned, "because why would there be only three people on a transit bus to Lompoc. We've been set up."

On the other side, Dominic was pulling up to the front of the bus and Letty was leaning out the window ready to take her next shot.

"Dom, don't do it!" Kendall's voice yelled over the two-way. "It's a set up."

"What?" Dom yelled back. Letty froze midway out of the window. She pushed the gun back into the car and pushed her body further out and looked up. Her eyes met instantly with one of the three men on the bus. He was holding a gun.

"Shit!"

Letty pulled back in and grabbed the wheel, spinning the car away from the bus. Dominic threw the car in reverse as Mia's panicked voice came over the two-way.

"Oh my god. Dom it's the police. They're already here!"

"That's impossible Mia," Dom replied. "Lompoc is an hour away."

"They had to have been waiting for us," Letty reasoned. "They knew we were coming. We ran into blitz."

"Mia where are you?" Dom demanded.

"There were so many," Mia replied. "I couldn't just stay there. I had to run."

"Dom we have to get her out of there," Letty snapped.

Dom hit the gas. "Mia hang on we're coming."

As the raced to get in front of the bus, Letty stuck the gun out of the window and blindingly shot three shots.

"I want to keep it where it is," she explained when Dom gave her a look. Kendall and Kimberly's car were now behind them and not too far in the distance they could all see the flashing lights.

"Damn how many is that?" Leon asked over the radio.

"I'm counting ten," Letty answered, "maybe eleven."

"Letty I need you to work that aim," Dom said. "A collision on their part would do us some good right about now."

Letty leaned out of the window with the shotgun in arm. She waited until Dom sped closer before she put the gun in aim.

"Letty now!" Dom roared.

An explosion erupted from the semi-automatic as the bullet shot out headed straight for the police car to the right of Mia.

"Mia, move to your left!"

Mia's car moved just in time to avoid the collision that trapped two police cars in addition to the car that as it was hit, flipped over.

Right before Letty had taken her shot, Kendall had ordered Leon to hop into the back seat with Ol' Susana at the ready. In the split second that the officers were distracted by the collision of three, Kendall stopped the car and Leon hopped out, aimed low and struck under car near the engine, sending it in the air as well. From Kimberly's point of view it seemed like the officers were trying to play some version of "Pop Goes the Weasel."

"Kendall, watch out!" Dominic yelled over the two-way.

The warning came a second too late. Although Kendall was able to dodge the police car that was coming from the west, Leon was left in the middle of the playing field, dodging the bullets that were coming his way. He was a fish out of water.

Lucky for him, Dominic's car came roaring through and when the back door swung open, he gladly hopped in.

"What the hell is wrong with _you_?" Letty snapped loading more rounds from the front seat.

"Mia, where are you?" Dom called through the two-way.

"She's behind me," Kendall replied back as Mia also answered, "I'm trailing Kendall."

"Alright Kendall lead her out to the highway and get the hell out of here," Dom ordered.

Kimberly's car now led Kendall's and Mia's as the sped back towards Los Angeles. Dominic wildly turned the car around and revved the engine a few times before sticking his hand out of the window and flicking off the police officers. His hand jetted back in to avoid another shot aimed his way, but since Letty took over the wheel and gas, Dom was able to save his hand and his car.

"What was the point of that?" Letty snapped as Dom threw the car in reverse and turned around.

"I don't want them following the wrong car," Dominic explained. "Now they know it's me."

Dominic's car raced to catch up with Mia's, Kendall's and Kimberly's on the high way. The seven police cars followed them hungrily until the group split up. Four police cars followed Dom on to the Solvang exit while the remaining three followed the girls as they sped down the freeway.

With only four left, Letty stepped into the backseat with Leon and picked up the shot gun again.

"What are you doing Letty?" Dom asked.

"Hold the door open," she commanded ignoring Dominic. Leon opened the back door and Letty pushed her torso out car, with her back parallel to the road.

"Grab a hold of her waist," Dom snapped from the front.

Letty aimed the gun again, and shot the nearest police car. The car didn't topple over but it did start a car collision, which caught another one of the police officers. Letty aimed to fire another again, when a bullet exploded from one of the police cars hitting Letty's gun. In shock, the gun fell from Letty's hand and Leon pulled her back in.

"Letty baby, are you alright?" Leon asked.

"I'm fine," Letty replied sitting up. "How many are left?"

"Two," Dom replied. "We can shake them."

"I don't want to take any chances," Letty said crawling over to the opposite side of the back seat. "Slow down Dom."

"Why?" Dom demanded.

"Just do it Dominic!"

"Not until you tell me why!"

"Dom, trust me!"

Dominic's grip on the wheel tightened as the car slowed down. When it came to a reasonable speed, Letty opened the door and jumped out, rolling against the dirt and sand.

The impact shot pain through her body, but especially her ribs, which were still healing from the past week. She groaned and slowly got up, spitting blood from her mouth. As she expected a police car was pulling over to arrest her. God must be smiling at her today—or at least he was being merciful. There was only one cop in the car.

"Put your hands on your head," the officer commanded. "And walk slowly towards the vehicle."

Letty did as commanded with no complaint or smart remarks. When she reached the car, the officer pulled out the handcuffs. As he clasped one of her arms around the cool metal, Letty pushed her elbow backwards into his chest and twisted her body and shoving the man against the ground. The officer staggered away from her and then as he came back, Letty's fist flew across his face and her right came in contact harshly with the man's groin.

The officer groaned in pain and the gun in his right hand slipped from his grasp into her own. She kicked the officer to the ground but not spare anymore time for him. Instead she hopped into his car and sped down the road.

In minutes she could see Dominic being trailed by the other police officer and when they were in sight the police scanner went off.

"Petersons, come up closer. I'm going to try to swing him," the officer said.

Letty advanced in the car, but instead of swinging to the right, she followed the police car in front of her and ran right into its bumper.

The car in front of her fell to the side for a moment before coming back.

Dominic swerved his car to the right and hit the reverse as Letty plowed forward. Both of them hit the police car around the same time, squishing the car and sending it flying like a pop fly.

Letty quickly abandoned the car, and hopped back into Dominic's in the front seat.

"Not bad Letty," Leon complimented as Dominic sped off.

"I'm glad to have your approval," Letty replied breathless. Dominic wordlessly put her hand in his, but Letty removed her hand from his grasp. The pain was too fresh and after their run with the police, she had no room for sympathy.

"So what next?" Leon asked. "Do we just run south and give up on Vince?"

"We're running north to the nearest garage," Dominic replied. "We need to switch cars. We'll head back to L.A. this evening. I came back to get Vince, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

* * *

This is easily the longest chapter I've ever written for one of my stories. Sorry it took so long, life has been pretty hetic on my end and I'm just trying to keep my head above water. Although hopefully I'm forgiven for giving you such an incredibly **long** chapter. I feel really bad about not being able to introduce Cameron Cadmen the way I wanted to (that's what happens when you tell the story out of order) but for anyone who did pick up on it. Cameron was the youngest of the Cadmen clan, who grew up closely with Dom and Vince. He was also really close to Letty, whom he took under his wing as his little sister. But all of this will be explained in detail when I start _The Forbidden Apple _which will show Dom and Letty's beginning. You can look for that in the near future. And as always thank you for reviewing. Those reviews are amazing, it always puts a smile on my face. Well, I hope you enjoyed and please don't forget to review again!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 10

Mia looked back behind her to see the disappearing bumper of her brother's car.

"We can't just leave them," she said into the two-way.

"Mia, they know what they're doing," Kendall responded. "Don't worry about them."

"And us?" Mia asked.

"That's a different story," Kendall replied. "Sit tight. I'm going to see if we can shake these guys."

Kendall's car hit a wild reverse ramming right into one of the police cars behind her before sprinting ahead again.

In the same spirit, Kimberly tried to zigzag her way through the highway, leading an officer between several close calls, but he was too good.

"Alright Mia, I need you to sprint up about a good ten miles ahead of us, alright?" Kendall instructed over the two-way.

"Sure."

As Mia's car accelerated, Kendall switched lanes joining her sister and together they both reversed and simultaneously rammed into the back of the police officer's car. They both had to dodge to get out of the way as the car flew into the air, but with grins on their faces they both managed to skirt way with their lives.

As Kendall and Kimberly double teamed their victim, the last of the police cars sped forward zoning in on Mia. At first Mia didn't worry about the car advancing on her too much. It was only one police car after all, she could lose him.

But then her eyes spotted on the north, specifically the mass of cars that were advancing towards—police cars to be exact.

Sweat began to build on her hands as she struggled to find the best route out. She knew in a matter of seconds that Kendall and Kimberly would catch up with her, but she wasn't sure that she had those seconds to spare. Acting on nerve, Mia crossed the median into the northbound lanes. Crossing the median, Mia barely missed collision with a semi truck that blared its horn angrily at her. However, the hungry police officer trailing her was not so lucky.

The mere miss did not come without consequences. The truck did hit her on her back end, projecting her to the side of the road, running her into a tree.

As the airbags violently exploded in her face, Mia could taste the blood running down and her chest ached with pain from breathing. She wasn't there long before the door was opened and someone was pulling her out. At first she thought it was the hands of the police, but Kimberly's voice came to her ears.

"Come, Mia, get to the car fast. We don't have a lot of time."

Mia staggered out of the car and ran as quickly as she could to Kimberly's parked car on the side of the road. She could hear clicking behind her before Kimberly's grasp found her again and pushed her into the passenger's seat.

Mia got in the car in time to see the flames behind her.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Your finger prints were all over that car, babe," Kimberly answered. "I'm trying to lower our chances of getting caught."

Kimberly zoomed off from the sight quickly catching up with Kendall, who was about ten miles ahead of them. On the first exit they could they got off and got back onto Interstate 101 southbound for Los Angeles.

Before they hit the L.A. border, Kimberly and Kendall hopped off of 101 and drove through a local town.

"What's going on?" Mia asked.

"You'll see," Kimberly replied.

They pulled up to a barren, dirty public storage warehouse, where a man, just as rusty as the garage he patrolled, sat in an old booth.

"Parola d'ordine?" the man asked.

"What's the password for?" Mia asked.

"Casata," Kimberly replied winded.

The man slid Kim the keys, "Third to your left."

"Casata?" Mia asked as they walked back to their cars.

Kimberly grasped her hand and held it tightly, smiling even in exhaustion. "Casata," she promised.

They parked the cars in the storage room which easily held the two cars.

"Why did you burn the other car on the highway?" Mia asked as they walked from the garage. "We could have put it in there."

"There's no room," Kimberly explained.

"And do you really trust that guy?" Mia asked. "I mean that place doesn't look exactly well protected."

"That's the whole point," Kendall responded as they stopped at bus stop. "But Romano's has been open for a long time and it's the last place that the police come looking for confiscated things. It's private property, old and only old customers of Romano do business there. No new customers mean little attention."

"And when did you all become customers at Romano's?" Mia asked.

"Mia, has anyone told you that you ask too many questions?" Kimberly smiled as the bus pulled up.

When they were situated on the bus, Mia opened her mouth to ask something else when Kimberly shook her head.

"No more questions. Our only worry is getting to the hospital," Kimberly instructed. "Let me do the talking. After we get home from there, we'll worry about everything else."

The ride to downtown L.A. took about twenty minutes, thanks to vacant streets. When they pulled up at the hospital, Mia felt a wave of relief spread over her. They had made it. They escaped probably one of the closest calls of her life. Had Kimberly not came to get them, they would have all been in jail right now. The thought of it sent a shiver through her spine, and she silently thanked God for her_ casata. _

Her pleasant mood, however disappeared when they reached Vince's floor.

"Well then you should have had a better eye on him!" Krystal was screaming. The anger and the anguish in her voice shook Mia's spirit and brought her crashing back down to earth—where things seemed to daily go terribly wrong.

"Mom?" Kendall asked approaching the scene. Krystal was yelling furiously at one of the doctors, a nurse, a police officer and her FBI boyfriend Brandon Collins.

"Everyone in this damn hospital is so anxious to put him behind bars! If you had actually treated him like a _fucking _human being—"

"Mom, what's going on?" Kimberly asked reaching the group first. At the sight of them, Collins stepped forward towards Mia.

"Ms. Toretto, I need to know where you've been today," he instructed.

"I-I, what's going on here?" Mia asked.

"Ms. Toretto, please," Brandon insisted.

"She was with us," Kendall answered. "Mia got a bit hysterical this morning and took off. We just came back in. Now what the hell is going on here?"

"I don't believe that," the officer spat from behind Collins.

"Why don't you go back to having your sprinkle covered donut and let us worry about the real police work," Kadeem snapped.

"You two were the only ones with her?" Brandon asked.

"Yes," Kimberly answered.

"Alright, I'm going to need a written statement," he told the girls. He then turned around to face Krystal and rested his hand on her shoulder, which she instantly rejected. But he continued to promise, "I'm going to find out who did this."

"You damn well better," Krystal replied. "Or there is going to be some hell to raise."

She shook her head in fury and stalked off down the hallway. Brandon spared Kendall one look, to make sure that she was visibly okay, before leaving in the opposite direction for the elevator.

"What the hell happened?" Kimberly asked Kadeem.

Her brother sighed, bit his lower lip and bowed his head as a fresh stream of tears appeared. "It's Vince…."

Mia wasn't sure how she was able to drive safely that night on her way home. The whole way her vision was blurred with constant tears and a shaking body. It was truly amazing how in a matter of mere hours her entire could start to patch itself up, only to be ripped apart all over again.

When she reached the driveway to the house, there were no cars, but her own and Kadeem's who was following her. He and Kendall emerged from the car and helped her into the house, before she collapsed from pain and exhaustion. Today had simply been too long.

Inside, however, Mia, Kendall and Kadeem were greeted by the sight of Letty, Dom and Leon resting on the couch. Her pained face was met with their instant worry.

"What happened?" Dominic demanded.

Tears filled her eyes again as her body shook, "It's Vince," she cried softly. "He's gone."

Silence swept over the room before Letty quietly asked, "What?"

"Vince is dead," Kendall clarified as Kadeem put Mia into one of the nearby chairs.

"What?" Leon asked louder. "How? He was in the hospital! It's supposed to be—no! No, he's not dead. They're wrong!"

"He's gone Leon," Kendall continued. "They found him dead in a bathroom."

Letty fell back on the couch and ran her hands through her hair as tears began to build. Leon sat down as well, gapping at her in shock, but Dominic still stood up, fist clenched and eyes tightly shut.

"A bathroom?" Letty repeated.

"Yeah, he asked for some assistance to the bathroom by a nurse and that's where they found him dead," Kadeem explained.

"So a nurse killed him," Dominic said softly.

"That's what we think," Kadeem answered. "Is there anyone who you can think of that has a grudge against you? Big enough for them to kill V?"

"Wait a minute," Letty interrupted standing back up. "What hospital was this at? Tell me—tell me that this was not at Good Samaritan…"

"Yeah it was…"

"God damn you Dominic!" Letty yelled. The sheer strength of her voice shook them all, and Mia raised her head from her sorrows.

"Letty…?"

"I TOLD YOU!" Letty screamed at him. "I BEGGED YOU NOT TO TAKE THE FUCKING DEAL!"

By then Dominic had enough. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" he roared back. "I KNOW THAT JESSE AND VINCE'S DEATH ARE ON MY HANDS! I KNOW THAT ALL OF THIS SHIT WITH THE TRUCKS IS MY FAULT—"

"I'm not talking about the trucks," Letty hissed. "Do you even _know _who works at Good Samaritan Hospital?"

Dominic didn't answer immediately so Leon asked what they all were thinking, "Who?"

"Sandy," Letty spat. "As in Sandy **Tran**."

"Oh shit," Leon groaned.

"Tram, that's it!" Kadeem exclaimed. "She's the Asian nurse that my mother was talking to…oh my god, right before she went to get Vince. She was the nurse that took him to the bathroom."

"Sandy _Tran_," Letty continued, "is the little sister of Johnny Tran, who was just—"

"—just killed this past week," Kendall finished sighing.

"Killed?" Kadeem asked.

Dominic didn't respond but instead he headed towards the nearest wall and slammed his fist into it.

"I have to get to the hospital," Kadeem said heading for the door. "We gotta find this Tran girl before she gets out of town."

When the screen door closed, all that could be heard in the room was Dom's heavy and aggravated breaths. Leon wordlessly stood up and headed up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"Mia I think you should go up and pack your things," Kendall suggested.

Mia looked up in confusion. "Why? We can't leave now."

"Mia, I think it's best that we try and get you out of town before the Tran's try anymore cute ideas," Kendall reasoned.

"What about Vince? I'm not leaving him," Mia insisted.

"We'll come back when things have cooled down. Don't worry," Kendall assured, "we're going to take care of Vince."

Mia nodded, stood up and headed for the stairs. After she left, Kendall looked firmly at Letty and nodded towards Dominic before leaving the room silently for the kitchen.

Letty wasn't quite sure of what words to say. Her own emotions were conflicted between punching Dominic in the face and trying to not make him feel so guilty. She so badly wanted to make him hurt for the week that he'd put her through, but seeing him like this made her feel as though he'd been through far enough. After all, Cameron used to tell her that, "Even the guiltiest man, has innocence in him. You just have to dig deep."

So how innocent was Dominic? How much of this wasn't his fault?

She shifted on her feet for a moment and went she finally gathered the courage to speak, without spite in her tongue a crash erupted. Dom and Letty quickly ran to the kitchen where Kendall was on the floor groaning, her hands on her head covered with blood. Beside her was a rock, about the size of Letty's fist, splattered with blood.

"K, are you alright?" Dom asked rolling her to her side and helping her up.

Kendall groaned and Letty looked around to see where the rock came from and was met with the sight of a small woman outside on their lawn with a Corona in hand.

"That little bitch," Letty growled getting up.

"Letty!"

Outside of the house, Letty pushed the woman to the ground, and her fists began to fly across her face. Beneath her, the drunk Sandy Tran laughed and laughed, enjoying her drunken stupor.

"I killed Vince, I killed Vince," she sang loudly laughter breaking into her song.

Letty couldn't have hit the girl more times. There was so much anger that possessed her body and if there was ever a skank that Letty hated—it was Sandy Tran. It was Dominic, who grabbed her by the waist as she was kicking and screaming off of Tran.

"Letty, we gotta go, we gotta go!" Dominic yelled dragging her away. Letty tore from Dominic's grasp and pushed against him.

"Why?" she yelled back. "That stupid bitch—that cow, your little _slut _killed Vince! VINCE! Not Monica, not Edwin or Hector! Vincent! Mi hermano. Nuestra familia!"

"Letty, I know—"

"No, you don't!" she cried.

She was crying and it broke Dominic in two. Throughout their lives they had both dealt with their fair share of death of friends and loved ones, but even then, Letty only cried through three funerals: his father's, Cameron's and her grandmother's.

"Letty, Kadeem called," Leon cut in from behind. He was tying Tran with some extra sheets to the porch pillar. "The police are on their way to pick up Tran. We gotta get out of here before they come and pick us up too."

Letty's body collapsed into Dominic's embrace and he led her to his car which was in the shed. Dominic drove the car out of the shed and when they reached the front of the house, Leon hopped into the back and Dominic got out of the front. He walked back up the hill to the front door, where Mia stood, tears still running down her face.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mia," he apologized softly.

Mia threw her arms around her brother and leaned in his ear to whisper, "Promise me, you'll be safe Dom. You're the only family I have left."

"I'm not the only family you have left, Mi," Dom corrected. "Kendall, Kimberly, Kadeem and Krystal will all be here. They love you just as much as I do."

Mia tightened her grip on her brother, unwillingly to let him go.

"I gotta go, Mia," he said after a moment. He kissed her on the head softly before turning back to the car and driving off into the night.

Mia stood on the porch as another wave of pain hit her full force. More tears stained her cheeks and breathing became even harder. But the moment was short lived. Too close to her was Sandy Tran in her drunken state singing softly, "Oh Vince…poor Vince…killed Vince…oh Vince…"

Anger replaced her pain as Mia ran down the steps and quickly untied the sheets. She then grabbed Tran by her collar and dragged her up the street to Letty's old house, letting Tran's clothes tear from the coarse street road as her singing increased. Mia had almost made it to the house when she was interrupted by a small voice.

Mrs. Peters was a small woman, very polite and very considerate. She never asked for too much and had put up her the Toretto's and the Cadmen's with a grace that was only second to God. She was old in age, but not an ignorant woman as many people on 7th Ave. For a long time, they'd known that something was brewing down in that Toretto house. For a long time the neighbors debated about what to do with all the noise and the partying. They all knew it would come crashing down one day, but like many neighbors they sat by and watched the fire burn not bothering to help water the flame. But Mrs. Peters had finally seen enough. After watching those cars run up and down the neighborhood last week shooting as they went, after seeing more police cars in the last week than she'd seen in the last three years, it was well past time that somebody say _something. _

"Mia, darling," Mrs. Peters warned, "whatever that child is done, I promise you, it's not worth it. Someone is always watching."

"Well if you don't tell, I won't tell," Mia answered, spite filling her voice as she reached the door and began to drag Sandy's now unconscious body in.

"That somebody, Mia," Mrs. Peters continued, "He sees all things."

Mia paused and looked at the old woman. Deep in her heart she had no resentment for her and in the back of her mind she knew that she was only trying to do the right thing. But Mia was sick of the right thing, because no matter what she tried to do, no matter how good she tried to walk, the right thing always seemed to turn out to be the _wrong _thing.

"Thank you for your concern Mrs. Peters," Mia replied. "But heaven is pretty high up there and the weatherman called for a _very_ cloudy night."

* * *

The end is very near. In fact, I think I might be able to wrap this up in one more chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing so far, it really means a lot to me, espicially since we're so close to 50! Finally I think it's appropraite to say R.I.P. Vince. Hope you enjoyed the update and please don't forget to review!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any part of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

* * *

Chapter 11

Epilouge

"It's a bittersweet ending for Officer Crossin Daily and the rest of the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI," the news reporter began. "Finally after nearly four months of the successful heist, the truck hijackings have finally come to a cease. However, the men responsible are most likely to never pay for their actions. Our sources tell us that the police suspect that a small underground racing team, led by ex-con Dominic Toretto was behind the hijackings. Toretto, who served time in Lompoc Federal Correctional Institute, is also a well known racer among Los Angeles' street racing."

Mia frowned and shifted in her seat watching the broadcast. She knew that it would be more logical to simply change the channel—what could they possibly report that she didn't already know—but she couldn't put the will into action and the remote sat on a wooden table a good foot from her.

The news report had now cut to an interview snippet with the Chief of Police.

"—it's a victory in some sorts and loss in others. On one side we were not only able to identify and help stop the hijackings, but now we have been able to remove a very prominent and dangerous group of men and women from our streets," the man said. "However, that does not change the grim facts. Dominic Toretto and his team are still out there somewhere and they are still highly dangerous. If there is anything that _anyone _knows about this group, please do not hesitate to inform your nearest officer. It is our priority to keep our city safe, but we are not ignorant of the facts. Los Angeles is a metropolitan with many problems and many secrets. However if we are to keep our homes and families safe to live in, we have to come together like a family. And there are no secrets in family."

"He obviously does not have much family," Krystal commented coming from behind the couch that Mia was lying on, "because that's the biggest load of bull I've heard all week."

A flash of a smile crossed Mia's face before her grieving eyes set back in. The loneliness was like a slow drug to her heart, even though she had temporarily moved in with the Cadmen's so that she wouldn't physically be alone. Krystal smiled at her fondly and joined her surrogate daughter on the couch, tuning into the news.

"—But it's not the hijackings that have the police's attention," the news reporter continued. "In the past week four Los Angeles citizens—three male, one female—have all died, from what was first thought to be gang violence, but now new evidence has found that these killings are closely tied with the Toretto team and their activities."

The screen picture was suddenly filled with Jesse's blissful face. It was a photograph that Mia had never seen before, most likely taken sometime when he was a teenager, before he'd met them, but one thing was certain, KOMO 4 News had her attention now.

"Meet James Cunningham, known affectionately to his friends as Jesse. Cunningham was a member of Toretto's team, who was extremely knowledgeable in the mechanics of the automobile."

And as if to prove her point, the screen cut to an interview of an informant, who had wisely chosen to keep his face covered, but Mia still knew the voice.

"Yeah, little man was like a mad scientist or something, always spitting (bleep) about cars and what not," Jamal Jones, a member of Edwin's team, rambled. "I mean, and you couldn't even get on him about it, y'know Dom would cut anybody who said anything about Jesse. Kid was crazy though."

"Cunningham was killed earlier this week. The reason is unknown to the police, but the source is. Meet Jonathan Lu Tran," the report continued and the screen divided with Jesse's picture on the right and Johnny's on the left. "Although the police are not clear of what exactly caused the deadly blow, they are well aware of Toretto and Tran distinguished dislike of the other, and according to many street racers this confrontation was years in the making."

"Y'know with Dom being the King of the Streets, Johnny was always trying to get on top, since high school," Jamal added. "I mean they was cool back then, fo sho, but (bleep) when we got to the real world, man lines were drawn, deals broken, and hell I knew wasn't going be in Chinatown anytime soon! I mean, none of this really surprises me cause if there's one thing Johnny Tran is…man that (bleep) is dirty. I mean dirty dirty, with two R's."

"According to the police reports, Cunningham fell at a drive by, committed by Johnny Tran and his younger cousin Lance Tran. From the reports we know that Toretto himself witness the shootings along with team member Brian O'Conor."

"Team member my ass," Mia hissed. Krystal rubbed her back affectionately.

"You can't be too mad at him," Krystal reminded her.

"And why not?" Mia snapped. "Vince would be alive! Sure they all would have gone back to Lompoc, but I'd prefer having to wait for them to come out of jail then be at their funerals!"

"Did Brian O'Conor ask you to do those hijackings? Because I was under the impression that was _your _marvelous idea," Krystal snapped back. "He was doing his job, Mia. And I know it hurts to be lied to, hell welcome to my life, but Brian has given Dominic something that he would have never gotten other way, and it's horrible that it comes at the cost of Vince and Jesse's life, but we both know your brother needed this reality check. He is _not _the king of the world. The reign of KingDom has gone on long enough and its time we all went back to reality."

Mia nodded in slight recognition and turned her attention back to the television.

"—however after Johnny Tran's death, things evidently became personal between the two groups. Residents of 7th Avenue witnessed what was described to be a "massacre" led by Lance Tran and his affiliates. Leonardo Rodriguez and Mia Toretto, the only two members to stay in California after the fall, barely escaped however they caused an estimated 10 million in damages to the neighborhood. Following this attack, Team Toretto put their attention of freeing their affiliate Vincent Carter from a fake transit bus. Luck was with them again, as these men and women escaped the police, however Carter, was killed in the hospital by nurse Sandy Tran, the younger sister of Jonathan Tran. After Carter's death, the police were sure that things around Los Angeles had finally cooled, especially after the arrest on Lance Tran for murder and attempted murder, however late last night Sandy Tran's body was found in the lawn of the Tran family's estate bloodily and badly beaten, she was found with a note that said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

Mia sat up on the couch and turned to Krystal. "When _I _dealt with Sandy Tran," Mia began slowly, "I left her in Letty's basement."

"That's true," Krystal agreed. "However when **I **dealt with Sandy Tran, I made sure it was something that none of them would ever forget."

Mia smiled softly before shaking her head, "Will it ever end? All the fighting? Sometimes, I just want things to stop. I want things to go back to the way it used to when we were in high school, when things were easy."

"Firstly, things have **never **been easy for this family," Krystal replied. "And wishing on memories of the past is only going to hinder you for getting your future. But, do you know what is key to have when things go wrong?"

"What?" Mia asked softly.

"Love."

* * *

An angry Chevrolet roared through the quiet and pristine dirt roads. Dominic sat quietly at the wheel racing the car through the small town and Letty sat in the passenger's seat eyes lost in the window and Leon slouched in the back. No one dared to ask where they were going, because none of them, not even Dominic, knew where to go next. They had been driving for hours and at the rate Dominic was going they would reach the Mexican border in twenty short minutes. Dom's grip on the wheel tightened. A highway sign let him know that he was approaching the last small town before they hit the border.

_There had to be one garage in this place_, Dominic thought as he swerved off the road taking the exit.

"Dom what are you doing?" Leon asked from the back. "Where are we going?"

_Cameron smiled slightly at Dom before responding. "You know Dom, there's going to be a time that something is going to go terribly wrong. And for whatever reason, I'm not going to be there to help you figure things out, and you're going to have to a make a decision that goes just beyond your own welfare, but the welfare of others. Like Letty. And I know that you are capable of making good decisions—the right decision, so when you get to that moment, I really want you to think about what you just said."_

"You'll see," Dominic replied.

He didn't have to drive long before he spotted a junkyard posed as a garage.

"Dom what the hell?" Letty asked, the only words she had said to him since they'd started driving.

Dom, wordlessly, got out of the car and pulled the few thousands that he had snagged before leaving the house. He counted the money to himself quickly, while scanning around. No car in here could be worth more than four grand, and with the ten grand that he had, Letty and Leon would have more than enough.

He separated the money evenly and handed them each five grand.

"What is this?" Leon asked.

"Your way out," Dom replied. "This heist was my idea, my shit to own, not yours. There's enough there to get you a car and plenty of gas and food. Keep of out California until I've run the heat south. Just check on Mia every once in awhile."

"Why are you doing this?" Leon asked.

"Because I'm not taking you to Mexico, Leon," Dom replied. "Because Jesse shouldn't have died, and neither should have Vince. Because we should have stopped while we were still on top and because I'm sorry."

Leon nodded and Dom stuffed his hands his pockets and made his way back to the car, trying to avoid a set of chocolate eyes that could bore him with more guilt and pain than he was willing to handle. But Letty wouldn't let him get passed her. Not without one more look, one more kiss…

Her hands rested on his chest, a move that was usually followed by joining his embrace. But today Letty kept her distance. She kept her eyes down and her heart locked. After a moment, Dominic raised her head and put his hands on either side of her face. There were no words to express his grief and they both knew it. They both learned a long time ago that words would do little for them if they came with no action.

"_You spin these tales all the fucking time. But there's never any __action! __Unless it has something to do with you and the bed sheets!__"_

Dominic gently brought his lips to Letty's, but she bowed her head at the last second, leaving Dom to kiss her affectionately on her forehead.

"I love you," he whispered softly, before walking away.

When Dom's Chevy disappeared down the road, Leon let loose.

"What the _hell _is wrong with you?" Leon snapped.

"What the **fuck **is wrong with you?" Letty snapped back. "You must have hit your head pretty damn hard out there, because I don't who you think you're talking to like that but it sure as hell is—"

"You!" Leon yelled. "Let, you can't walk out on that."

"Me walking out? You think this is me walking you?" Letty snapped. "This is him! All him! He's the one ready to abandon us **again**!"

"He's trying to protect you!" Leon argued. "He's trying to protect us."

"So, what's your point?" Letty snapped.

"Letty, when in the hell have you ever needed protection?" Leon asked. "The only thing you've ever needed just drove off. Now are you going to let go of what you need or are you going to take what's rightfully yours?"

Dominic took a deep breath as he neared closer to the border. _Just ten more miles, _he thought. _Ten more miles to freedom. _

But he knew that deep down it wouldn't be freedom without Mia, and the guys, with Krystal and the rest of the Cadmen's, without the garage, without Letty….

Thoughts of his girlfriend erupted in his mind. From her sarcastic smile, to her greasy look after working on an engine. He missed her slightly musky scent, her sharp attitude, but most of all he missed her heart. He ached knowing that this was the end. He would be starting a new chapter of his life, without the one thing…

"Shit!" Dominic swore. Not ten miles from the border and he was already getting flagged down by cops.

He put his foot on the gas, but the officer ran straight for his bumper. He hadn't expected the move , so in the brief second that he let go of the wheel, Dom lost control of the car as it began to spin wildly. When he finally got it to stop, he was on the side of the road, and he could see the officer heading towards him.

"Now where do you think you're going Toretto?"

Dominic opened his door slowly and stepped out in the sun. Behind his car was a beaten black and white, with old police lights on its hood. It was the kind of car that was perfect for a junkyard.

"Letty…" Dom whispered.

Letty smiled softly and rested her body against his. Dominic took the invitation and wrapped his arms tightly around her. They held each other like this, quietly letting the heat burn their anger and their tears away, until all there was left was Letty & Dom.

"So does that mean I'm forgiven?" Dominic asked softly.

"It means I'm still angry," Letty replied. "It means I'm still hurting, but I want _you _to fix it. Fix me Dominic, make it better."

"Yes ma'am," he replied softly brushing his lips against her. "Leticia, te amo mucho para."

His lips covered hers and Letty moaned softly at the contact. When she opened his mouth to his, there was no fight for dominance, she let him take it and basked in the pleasure that he provided. She broke away from his sweet therapy to rest her head on his shoulder. It wasn't because she as angry, far from it, but they both knew that this was not a moment for them to get each other hot and bothered. It was just a moment to forgive, move on and love. Because at the end of the day, they knew they would always have each other—even when things go wrong.

* * *

Wow. I can't even believe it's over. It truly has been my pleasure writing this story and sharing it with everyone. You're reviews are really amazing and I love them to pieces. I want to thank everyone who's been reading, espicially since the beginning. Hopefully you'll stick around, when I start my next chapter in the Fast and Furious franchise. Sadly, it won't anytime soon, I'll be out of town (yay! summer) with potentially no internet access. But it will come soon. What else? Oh yes, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter (past the 50 mark!) espicially M3L2011, your review killed me! and tfatffreak207 for being the 50th reviewer. Have a great summer everyone! And translations are below (but I think we all know what Dominic said! ;)

Much Love to you all,

Santiva Potter

**Translation: **

_Leticia, te amo mucho para = _Leticia, I love you so much


	12. Prequel

Prequel Announcement:

Yes, it has taken forever, but the prequel to this story is finally up. It's called The Forbidden Apple, (title pending) and of course you can find it in Just In or under my page. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as the first. Criticism is always welcome. Have a great summer.

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


	13. Chapter 13 PLEASE READ

Prequel Announcement Pt.2:

I feel so horrible about what I'm about to say, but thankfully the bad news is followed by good news. Bad news: I won't be continuing "The Forbidden Apple". Good news: it's being rewritten in "Los Bandoleros". And I felt so guilty about it that I out out two chapters. Usually I wouldn't do this. But I was in the Blockbuster today, looking for Fast & Furious to rent primarily because I wanted to get my hands on the prequel that Vin Disel directed for the fourth Fast and Furious. Of course, the DVD in the store was the one disc with no special features. So, I went home and went to the all reliable Youtube, and of course found it. I had to do some hunting but it's there. The prequel was pretty decent (it still didn't answer my questions of what the hell happened to Vince & Leon) but it had 6 minutes of Dotty goodness that almost...almost made me forgive the writers for killing off Letty in the first ten minutes of the movie. Almost. ;) In any event, after I watched a few times one particular line that Letty said stuck with me, "That's right all the way from Mexico, sucker." My first reaction was: why was she in Mexico and why the hell does it sound like and look like (it's hilarious when she comes on the screen) that he left her there? Which of course got me thinking. So the prequel inspired a totally different twist that I didn't think about and when I thought about what I had orginally planned, this made so much more sense and I knew it could actually work. And in the end I want to write the best quality story, so The Forbidden Apple should be gone by the end of the week, but before that's gone Los Bandoleros will be up. I highly encourage that you find the actual prequel on Youtube. At the current moment, I think it's masked under some music on raylee705's Dom Letty- Los Bandoleros, but if you look at the note she has referring to the video it will lead you to the English verison in great quality (espicially for bootleg ;) Or you can PM me for the webaddress, won't let me post it in this note.

Edit: Los Bandoleros is now up!

Much Love,

Santiva Potter


End file.
